Sleeping Beauty,
Victoria,
Cleopatra,
Snow White,
Elizabeth,
Pocahontas,
Mia Thermopolis:
all princesses

Do YOU have what it takes
to be a princess?
princess mia will help you find out

Best-selling Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot and acclaimed fashion artist Chesley McLaren team up again to display this clever royal roster of princesses of the world. Big or small, old or new, fact or fiction, our favorite princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo (aka Mia) will point out why these princesses rule, and how any girl can too!

Grandmère says the only way we as a society can learn from our mistakes is carefully to scrutinize them, and vow never to repeat them. I guess this would explain why I'm stuck in princess lessons with her every single weekday from four to six.

Not surprisingly, Grandmère thinks SHE's the most suitable person to consult about royal role models. She says in her day, young women did not look up to scantily clad, weapon-wielding princesses such as Xena and "that other one, the one with the robots and the buns on the sides of her head" (!!!!!!) but to royals such as Princess Margaret and Isabel of Spain.

And though Grandmère says that there are any number of highly memorable princesses she would recommend that I emulate, she always adds, "Though I feel I can say -- without flattering myself, which would be highly unprincesslike -- that I'm probably your most suitable role model."

Whatever! I suppose it is setting a good example to smoke a pack a day and swill down about a zillion Sidecars before breakfast.

On the other hand, it's true you hardly ever read about Grandmère in the National Enquirer. She is the epitome of discretion. At least, outside the confines of the palace. Inside, all bets are off.

Elizabeth,
the Late Queen Mother

The late queen mother of Great Britain -- often vulgarly referred to as the "Queen Mum" -- is a perfect example of a princess who comported herself with grace and dignity throughout her long life. The mother of the longest-ruling sovereign in British history, one of Queen "Bess's" most notable contributions to the throne was her insistence that her family stay together during World War II. Rather than shipping her two young daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, to safety in the countryside, as many London parents were doing, the queen kept the girls at her side in the palace . . . a palace that was frequently strafed by Luftwaffe gunfire and even, on several occasions, bombed by the Nazi horde.

Her Majesty refused to be daunted by this senseless onslaught, and bravely visited her less fortunate subjects, commoners whose own homes had been blown to smithereens, in the very craters in which their beds once stood, offering tips as to how the damage might be repaired while never getting so much as a smudge on her crisp cotton gloves. Indomitable and cheerful throughout her husband's reign, the queen mother is a perfect example of a regent who showed grace under pressure . . . and always while wearing a delightful confection of a chapeau.

Be like the queen mother: Brighten the day of someone less fortunate than yourself by going to visit him or her while wearing a pair of white gloves and a charming hat with an adorable matching clutch. The poor soul will be cheered by the effort you will have made to look your best.

England's Princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret

Like their mother, the young Windsor princesses showed remarkable character during their teen years, despite living under constant threat of being murdered in their beds by an invading Nazi scourge. The brave princesses cheerfully assisted their mother in rolling bandages for the Royal Air Force, and wore cunning little khaki Wren uniforms, just like all the other British girls who chose to volunteer to stop the tyrannical oppression of the Axis powers by running canteens and casino nights for war-weary British soldiers.

Meg Cabot is the author of the best-selling, critically acclaimed Princess Diaries books, the first of which was made into the wildly popular Disney movie of the same name. Her other books for teens include All-American Girl, Haunted, Nicola and the Viscount, and Victoria and the Rogue. When not writing novels, Meg keeps busy brushing up on her etiquette, so that when her real parents, the king and queen, come along and restore her to her rightful throne, she won’t make any social gaffes. She lives in New York City with her royal consort and a one-eyed cat named Henrietta.