Fabulous and real Princesses

Almost every little girl dreams of becoming a princess in childhood, and we, parents ourselves, instill this desire in our beloved daughter, reading fairy tales about princesses, buying all the best and dressing her like a little doll. But one thing is fairy-tale princesses, whose images remain in memory forever, and another is real princesses, their lives, customs, customs and traditions. Let's talk today about whether it is really such a great happiness to be born a princess?

Listening to our favorite fairy tales from childhood, we usually create the same standard stereotype in our thinking: Princess - this is the best and most beautiful girl who dresses in the most beautiful dresses, eats the most delicious food (in the children's imagination, only sweets and cakes), plays and has fun every day, and when she grows up, she will definitely get the greatest love of the best prince in the world. Having firmly rooted this image of an ideal life in her soul, every girl secretly dreams of becoming a real princess, living a long and happy life, the main event of which will be incredible love with none other than a handsome prince on a white horse. The high dark tower, in which, according to the plot, the compassionate father often confines the princess is somehow forgotten, and only the image of a brave prince remains in dreams. He will certainly find her, will come very soon and will definitely take her to him. Very soon, you just need to wait a little more, and ... She will become the happiest girl in the world, a real princess from a fairy tale! However, in life, often, everything turns out quite differently, well, or not quite so, and the truth is that the fate of real princesses is far from being so cloudless and beautiful.

To begin with, the girl, who was born a princess, from the very childhood, all those around her suggested that she was the chosen one. This feature imposed not so much tempting pleasures as, above all, strict duties. Small Princess was supposed to be a model in everything - in studies, in behavior, appearance and, especially, in the rules of etiquette. Every day, the young princess was trapped in hundreds of small responsibilities, which grew along with the increasing numbers of her age. She had to study well under the strict supervision of a crowd of mentors and educators, communicate only with people chosen for her, dress in beautiful, but, mostly, terribly uncomfortable dresses for a small child every day, and attend long and tedious official ceremonies with her parents from an early age. ... It was not about any freedom - since childhood, young princesses have tried to develop such qualities of character as humility and obedience, endurance and inner restraint, even if at times it became very difficult for them. The daughter of the ruler of the state in any situation had to be good - educated, witty, beautiful and regal, because she was a true adornment of the royal court. The external reputation of the state and beneficial relations with other countries depended on this - in the modern concept, such a girl's position could be called the "face of the company", and therefore, the stupid and ill-mannered princess, in theory, was not needed by anyone.

This is evidenced by the historical case when the ambassador of King Louis 15 went to choose a future wife for his monarch. Initially, the choice fell on the Spanish princess - famous all over the world for her beauty, Infanta Isabella. On the long journey, the envoys stopped to rest at the Polish king, who gave them a poor, but warm and sincere welcome.Upon arrival at the Infanta's court, the ambassador, observing her, soon noticed that she was extremely ill-mannered and cruel - the spoiled beauty Isabella treated her servants terribly, beating her old, gray-haired, devoted servant-courtier with a slipper. Seeing this, the wise ambassador of Louis 15th pondered, and upon returning to France, he told his king about it. At the same time, he mentioned an equally young Polish princess, who, while honoring the guests, at the same time knelt down to tie a strap on the shoe of her sick father. After thinking about both girls, Louis 15 made a choice in favor of ... a Polish princess! It was to her that matchmakers were subsequently sent, and soon, Princess Mary became the wife of the French king, and the beautiful Spanish woman Isabella was left with nothing.

Princesses and fashion.

In addition to a strict upbringing, court fashion was a big inconvenience for the little princesses. At that time there was no children's clothing (it appeared only at the beginning of the 19th century), and girls were forced to wear adults, differing only in the size of the dress, with tight corsets and other details inappropriate for a child. In such outfits, they looked just like small adults, and often, the moral requirements for them were almost the same.

Any princess also had to perfectly know the Holy Scriptures, together with adults to fulfill all the religious laws established in the state, and in case of marriage, she was obliged to study all the manners, customs and religion of the country where she was to live in the future. Possessing, thus, two cultures at the same time, the princess became the so-called link between them and contributed to the strengthening of international relations. She also had to give her ruling husband a child-heir, and on this, unfortunately, the circle of her marital duties often ended.

This was due to the fact that in almost every case, there was absolutely no question of any love - princess marriage was primarily a political union and should, first of all, bring benefits to the state. Personal sympathies, to some extent, were nevertheless taken into account, but they did not play a fundamental role. Often, young princesses married at the age of 13-14 were completely unhappy in marriage - the autocratic husbands forgot about them, having fun in their free time with beautiful courtesans, and the queen's lot was charity and the official "appearance" of the monarch's wife. However, if the marriage did not take place, an even more inconspicuous fate could await her - going to a monastery, and therefore, the young princesses, becoming queens and experiencing the first disappointments from her husband's betrayals, quietly, secretly from the royal court, established their own personal lives and own affairs. Being a queen was already much more interesting - many of them had several thousand dresses in their wardrobe, a huge number of expensive jewelry, could enter into secret love affairs and receive guests, while spending, activities and entertainment of unmarried princesses were, as a rule are much more modest and limited.

Several cases from history tell of successful love in fortunes of princesses (for example, the marriage of the beautiful princess Wilhelmina and the Russian emperor Alexander II was concluded for love), but despite this, their happiness was never long. The reason for this was political intrigue, the passion of the royal spouse of any of the many women who surrounded him, or simply the inability to marry a loved one due to the need to constantly observe the status of a princess (queen) throughout his adult life.

Such is the life of princesses, which, despite all the charms and temptations of the royal court, often passed in solitude, for study and handicrafts, worries and duties. Mutual love in their lives arose quite rarely, and the happiness of marriage became a quickly passing routine. Of course, everything happened in their lives - intrigue, lovers, entertainment and pleasure (there is an opinion that the lovers of the young princess Margot were their own brothers). But the first place in the life of modern princesses has been and continues to be held by strict canons, rules and duties, because the burden of a "model girl" is not so easy. And you and I just have to keep in memory dear from childhood, beloved, magical and such beautiful images of fairy princesses.