Andrew Knighton 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.

This month I am joined by Andrew Knighton who is a fantasy author and freelance writer. He lives in Yorkshire with his cat, his computer, and a big pile of books. His most princess-like work is Empress Wu: Rise, a historical fiction novella co-written with Jeff Hortman.

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

For a classic princess-as-heroine, I’d start with determination, as she’s going to have to overcome not just the villains but probably a society in which she’s not taken as seriously as men. Quick wits, to see through the schemes of her opponents and find ways to thwart them. And compassion, because that’s a positive trait that cinematic princesses have helped to encourage, and that we could do with more of.

Having said all that, I don’t like monarchies, so what I’d really like is characters with those qualities but without the crown. Fictional princesses have a long history of providing girls with powerful role models, and I’d hate to throw that baby out with the hereditary bath water.

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

Story princesses are all about the tropes. They’re beautiful, well dressed, articulate, charming, and usually have one hell of a singing voice. There’s the animal sidekick, the moment of learning to defy authority, and a happy ending that’s based around finding love. None of which is inherently bad, but as a default template for heroines it’s both troubling and boring.

If we’re going to keep seeing princesses, let’s have some variety. Let’s have ugly princesses, scruffy princesses, princesses who buck the system from the start, sappy compliant princesses, asexual princesses, princesses all the animals hate, and at least one who’s as tone-deaf as I am.

Let’s have princesses as sidekicks, as villains, as background furniture and bit players. Because showing that princesses aren’t always central is as important as showing that they aren’t always paragons of old-fashioned womanhood.

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

Moana. She’s smart, adventurous, and brave. She finds a balance between the need to change and the need to preserve what has come before. She’s the first Disney princess where I stepped out of the cinema and felt like I’d learnt something new about how to approach the world.

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?

Absolutely. They’re compassionate and considerate. They often show courage and intelligence. They have a level of grace and style I could only dream of achieving.

I wish more boys would pay attention to these characters as role models. Most male role models are terrible at compassion and consideration, and it would be good to balance that out.

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

I can almost hear the ghosts of my left-leaning ancestors screaming “a guillotine”…

But seriously, I think that Disney have nailed one half of this. A princess is usually someone who lives in a courtly setting, so an elegant dress and perfect hair are important. They’re how the ideal princess can show that she understands the rules of society, and so lull everyone into a false sense of security.

Underneath that she’s wearing big boots, loose trousers, and body armour, so that she can leap into action when the shit hits the fan. She has all the pockets, and at least one of them contains a notebook for recording clues. Her parasol is a swordstick. There’s a compass hidden in the heel of one boot and a wire saw in the other, in case she needs to escape from captivity.

Her animal companion is a penguin. It’s a wildly impractical choice, but I really like penguins.

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?

Wu Zetian, a 7th century Chinese empress. She’s a controversial figure, and it’s pretty much impossible to disentangle myth from reality to find the details of her story. But what’s clear is that she took control of one of the most powerful nations on Earth in an age when women weren’t allowed to be in charge. She survived a host of challenges and setbacks, including terrible personal loss, and she emerged triumphant. She repeatedly defied expectations to get what she wanted. She probably wasn’t a pleasant person - successful monarchs seldom are - but she was amazing.

Elizabeth I also deserves a mention, for similar reasons. She realised that to marry would be to make herself secondary to her husband, and so spent her life fending off suitors to retain power, while seeing England through a tumultuous era.

And then there’s Boudica, who burned down cities rather than accept the cruelty of Roman rule. If that’s not inspiring, then I don’t know what is.

Andrew Knighton Princess Questions

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