Three Proud Princesses
by Janet Evins Cooper
Summary
A tale of privilege transformed by humility and grace, this charming tale of three princesses and their upbringing was exquisitely written and illustrated in 1939 by the author for her children. Queen Augusta’s three daughters are in for a surprise when they are all afflicted with unsightly ailments on the morning of their collective wedding to three strategically selected princes. As the princes search for remedies, a rich tapestry of extraordinary characters--kings and queens from distant lands, griffins, dragons, peddlers--and of grand adventures and moral tales unfolds.
Excerpt
Once upon a time there were three little Princesses. Their father, King Berrybutton, was a kindly old gentleman of simple tastes, but really a most distinguished ruler. Their mother, Queen Augusta, was a fine figure of a queen, a magnificent woman with a high color, a notable nose, and a great sense of her own importance and that of all her family.
The little Princesses were the loveliest little girls imaginable. As their mother did not approve of pampering children, they lived all year round in the magnificent but drafty summer palace. Their charming little noses were red on winter evenings as they passed between lines of shivering footmen to the great dining hall. There in solemn state they ate their baked apples and porridge by the light of flickering candles.
They had their baths in silver tubs set out on the white bear skin before the fire in the royal nursery. The tubs were burning hot on the side next the fire and freezing cold on the side toward the room. The Princess Columbine often burned herself on the hot side of the tub and cried, but Seraphina and Angela were older and knew better. Fortunately they were healthy children and did not catch pneumonia, but winter life in the summer palace was rather bleak. Even the daintiest of the ladies in waiting had to send home for woolly underwear.
Of course the business of state kept their majesties in the capital during the winter. There they were comfortable and rather stuffy in the winter palace. With the fine weather, however, the court returned to the summer palace. Then the little Princesses could hear gay music long after they had been sent to bed and ought to have been asleep. On sunny days they loved to run about the gardens, where on lawn and terrace peacocks flaunted their brilliant feathers, fine gentlemen bowed, and ladies spread their skirts hardly less gorgeous than the peacocks. Stone steps led down through the gardens to a lake. Sometimes the Princesses would save a bit of bread from their luncheon and go to feed the carp.
There were hundreds of carp in the lake, from pretty little gold fish to hideous moss-covered monsters as big as a baby. They all came flopping to the surface and sucked nastily for the crumbs. It was a horrid but fascinating sight, and the Princesses loved it....
When the Princesses were still very young, their parents set about arranging suitable marriages for them....
Author's Biography
Born in 1899, a graduate of Radcliffe College, Janet Evins Cooper wrote and illustrated “Three Proud Princesses” in 1939 to provide extra income for her family. She died in 1943. Her son, Robert Cooper, has resurrected the book as a tribute to her.