Fairy Tales, Not Just Of New York

Our culture is so currently in thrall to the enchantment of Park Avenue Princesses and their tooth-pick-thin, WASPY, uptown ilk, that it seems to have forgotten that the real princesses in fairy tales were usually not primped, pink-clad dollies with cascading blonde curls. Cinderella? Slept in the dirt. Rapunzel? Grew up in a turnip patch. The Sarah Jessica Parkers of this world would shudder in their Manolos at the prospect of getting their manicured hands dirty.
So Disney's first African-American princess, the appealing, Anika Noni-Rose-voiced Tiana, is a savvy specimen of fairy tale princess. Her ethnic identity has been the subject of much media coverage, but with the stately Michelle Obama effectively queen of the new USA, Tiana's princess appeal couldn't be more timely; the only sad thing about her is that she wasn't conjured up a long time ago.
Princesses come in all manner of shapes, colours and sizes. Kate Moss, with her elfin Arthur Rackham face, has fairy tale qualities that make her the perfect Cinderella for the modern world; she even looks as if she’s still a bit covered in smuts. Poor Eugenie and Beatrice, royal by birth but seemingly untouched by any magic wand, are very unprincesslike in comparison, though they do seem to end up at a lot of the same parties.
What gives Tiana particular appeal is that she's not desperate to snag a handsome prince. Like many beauties, she's both a pragmatist, and fond of food, and her ambition is to open a restaurant. When her prince arrives, he's the missing ingredient, rather than the recipe for the rest of her life. As a role model, Tiana has a lot going for her.
If nothing else, Tiana might act as a useful reminder that princess doesn’t have to mean “stroppy little madam,’ and isn’t a euphemism for ‘spoilt.’ Our idea of what a princess should do and be has shifted from the idea of magical transformation – from rags to riches, abandonment to love, ignorance to wisdom – to the image of someone over-privileged with too much sense of personal entitlement falling out of a nightclub in something that cost more than a year’s Josbseekers Allowance.