Charlotte Bond
Author, Editor and Podcaster
Charlotte Bond
Author, Editor and Podcaster
2019 is the year of the prince!
Throughout 2018, I asked friends and contacts what they thought made a good princess. You can find the answers to those questions here
This 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 prince.
This month we are joined by Cheryl Morgan. Cheryl is a writer, editor and publisher, and the owner of Wizard’s Tower Press. She also co-hosts the Women’s Outlook Show on Ujima Radio in Bristol ujimaradio.com. She plays a lot of funk.
You can find her online on Twitter as @CherylMorgan; at her blog, Cheryl’s Mewsings Cheryl-morgan.com; and at her fanzine, Salon Futura www.salonfutura.net.
1. A prince has to win the trust not only of his people but of his chosen princess - and very quickly! What three qualities would you need a prince to show before you’d be won over to their cause?
A Prince should be a superb musician. All Princes are handsome by definition, and there’s not much call for fighting dragons these days. He might as well do something useful.
He should be a great teacher so that when he passes on he will have left behind him many brilliant musicians, especially women musicians, who claim him as their mentor and inspiration.
And finally, a Prince absolutely must have the funk.
2. All princes are armed, but what is the best weapon or weapons for a prince? (Magical weapons are allowed).
The signature weapon of the ideal Prince is the Axe. Of course, he should be the master of every instrument he chooses to lay his hands upon, but on stage a guitar is the only thing you can pose with properly.
It doesn’t matter if the instrument is a Telecaster or a Stratocaster because that’s someone else’s song, but the blood of the guitar should always be Chuck Berry Red.
3. Disney princesses often have an animal companion to share their trials with. If the same applied to princes, what kind of animal would be a good choice for a prince?
Every Prince needs a steed. It is important to select the right one. It should have two wheels, not four. It should have custom styling with high bars and a passenger seat for his Princess to ride on. It should be painted purple and covered in gleaming chrome. It should wail like a banshee and run like the wind.
4. The Disney princes were a pretty unmemorable bunch. What kind of prince - or saviour-hero - would you like to see in future Disney movies?
I’m sure that the Prince I have described would be great in the movies. Every movie needs a great soundtrack, right? You could give it a punning title like, I don’t know, Purple Rain maybe?
There should be an animated version, done by the same crew that did Into the SpiderVerse. With a guest appearance by Miles and SpiderGwen.
5. The focus on princesses is often what they wear, but what would be a good look for your ideal prince?
Something simple but flashy. A purple suit and white shirt?
6. Which fictional prince is your favourite, and why?
All Princes are fictional to some extent. They are pubic figures and adopt a persona to interact with their adoring subjects. Sometimes they also adopt a secret identity to add to the mystique. I find it amusing when that new identity is something unpronounceable such as…
Copyright 2015-2021 Charlotte Bond
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