Lucy Hounsom 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 we are joined by Lucy Hounsom, the author of The Worldmaker Trilogy. Her first book, “Starborn” was shortlisted for the 2016 Gemmell Awards for Best Fantasy Debut. She is a Waterstones bookseller who co-hosts the geek feminist podcast, “Breaking The Glass Slipper”, currently shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award (Best Audio). She lives half the time in Devon with two cats and the other half in Skyrim.

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

A sense of perspective, which I suppose you could call empathy. A princess is born into privilege – unless we’re talking of a lost heir raised in obscurity – who will one day command a realm. Rulers should remember that the majority of their subjects do not eat off golden platters.

Courage to put the needs of the people above her personal desires.

A good head for bargaining so those sneaky foreign ambassadors don’t come off best in trade deals.

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

Hair dark as ebony wood, skin white as snow. Princesses are too often blessed with features the rest of us could only achieve with a lot of money and a surgeon’s knife. They’re almost always pale-skinned too. I want real princesses who look like real people – from every walk of life and culture.

Sexual immaturity. A princess is typically a virgin until her wedding night. There’s just so much wrong with this I don’t know where to begin. Why is it only permissible for men to be experienced lovers? Why isn’t a prince explicitly expected to “save himself”?

A destiny governed by the search for true love. Princesses only seem to be allowed adventures as long as love is their ultimate goal and reward.

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

I’ve always been torn between Belle and Mulan. I feel close to Belle because she loves to read and refuses to cave to the societal pressures of a small town. But Mulan is a great example of a woman whose goal is not true love. Finding love is just an offshoot of her larger destiny, which is to save China – and her father – by defying social norms. And despite the whole girl-disguised-as-a-boy trope, I still can’t get enough of that moment when she cuts off her hair with a sword.

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?

Snow White makes the best of a bad situation. I respect her for being unafraid to get her hands dirty – princess to housekeeper is quite a demotion after all. And adaptability in the face of adversity is an admirable trait.

Poor Aurora was given a passive storyline; she instigates almost nothing and has her destiny mapped out for her as a baby, a destiny she can’t escape. You could say she is diligent, honest, kind… but it’s disturbing the there attributes were given to her at birth. When gifts and curses are done, Aurora has nothing left for herself. This stripping of power is so complete that I wonder whether Maleficent wasn’t meant to be the true heroine and the story simply got told the wrong way round.

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

An outfit that strikes a balance between elegance and practicality like a waistcoat and a good pair of leather boots. If she’s only allowed one accessory, it had better be a Swiss army knife, which probably covers most eventualities.

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?

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I – both strong women in an age where females had few basic rights. If you’re not familiar with Eleanor’s life, do look her up. She was Queen of France and Queen of England, the mother of Richard the Lionheart, and she lived until 80 – frankly astonishing in the twelfth century.

My favourite fictional queen is Robin McKinley’s Aerin from “The Hero and the Crown”. While not technically a queen at the beginning of the book, she grows into her title through suffering, sacrifice and phenomenal bravery. She saves a realm and its people, and learns along the way that there is room in a woman’s heart for more than one man. Take that, true love.

Lucy Hounsom Princess Questions

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