The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen

Before paternity or DNA tests, and in an age when kings – fathers of princesses, in other words – found it as easy to get themselves killed in battle as to sire a daughter, it was probably a tricky business trying to ascertain your bride-to-be’s credentials in the blue-blood department. One explanation is that the story is about the importance of a prince making a good marriage, to a woman of royal blood who came from good ‘stock’. Hans Christian Andersen: The Princess and the Pea The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen (1835) NCEupon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess but she would have to be a real princess. But what, then, might the true meaning of the tale be? There was once a prince who wanted to marry a princess. One of the most famous bedtime stories in the world, the The Princess and the Pea is written by one of the most notable fairy tale authors - Hans Christian Andersen. A story that goes back to India almost a thousand years ago (and that’s only the earliest one we know about: many fairy tales have the ring of oral culture about them, and oral literature is notoriously good at getting itself lost down the centuries) surely has more importance than warnings about maintaining a tidy valance or laughter about how the royals are a bunch of pernickety wusses farther removed from the sufferings of ordinary people than a Martian holidaying on Pluto. A charmingly-illustrated take on a classic tale, perfect for young readers. The Princess and the Pea (The Real Princess) is a Danish fairy tale about a prince who wanted to marry a real princess.