Sue Moorcroft Princess Questions

2018 is the year of the princess!

Throughout the year, I will be asking authors from a variety of genres as well as a host of others from editors to academics, what they think makes a definitive princess.

In a special edition, just for Valentine’s Day, the lovely Sue Moorcroft has agreed to answer my questions. Sue is a Sunday Times and international bestselling author and has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle. She’s won the Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary, and Just for the Holidays has recently been nominated in the Contemporary category of the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards, ‘the RoNAs’.

Her short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared all over the world.

1. What three attributes do you think a princess ought to have?

A kind heart, a lot of money, and a tendency to have a massive strop if she doesn’t get her own way. I acknowledge that the first and third of these may seem to conflict with one another, but it would make an interesting character to write about. ‘Princess Poundsigns gave money to the poor and found homes for stray puppies. But woe betide you if you admitted you didn’t like her new dress …’

2. What characteristics do you think are so overused that they’ve become tropes?

Probably the third of the above! We say things like ‘she’s a princess’ to describe someone who, in earlier generations, would have been called a spoiled brat. In contemporary fiction, the princess is often seen doing something out of brattishness and then has to redeem herself. NB I’m not sure that tropes arise out of overuse of a situation. I feel more that tropes become tropes because they’re the most impactful way to tell a story.

3. If I forced you to choose, which would be your favourite Disney princess?

Cinderella - that may be stretching the term princess, but she does marry a prince. I have to say that princess stories are not my favourite Disneys movies. I usually like the ones with animals.

4. A lot of people look down on the older Disney princesses, such as Snow White and Aurora, as being too passive and subservient. Do you think there are good qualities in these outdated princesses that modern girls and boys can aspire to?

I suppose they were princesses of their time, and so reflect some of women’s place in society at the time they were created. However, they were pretty gritty for damsels in distress. They also represented good and overcame evil.

5. What’s the ideal outfit for a princess, including a can’t-do-without accessory?

A really stunning glittery ball gown and shoes that are both gorgeous and comfortable. (Good luck with finding the latter.)

6. Although it’s rarely written about, princesses eventually turn into queens. Which fictional (or real) queen do you consider to be a particularly inspiring character?

When I was a teenager I was particularly taken with Mary Queen of Scots and used to read a lot about her. She was really hurled around by power and politics, and then came to a sticky end. I felt sorry for her and wished I could write her a better life. There was a story that when she was beheaded she carried on talking - a fine example of a woman who refuses to give up until the last gasp. Or even after the last gasp.

Sue Moorcroft Princess Questions

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