It’s a Prince Thing

Philippa Gregory's It’s a Prince Thing is a funny fairytale for 6 year olds about a princess whose kingdom is suddenly promised to a baby brother delivered by mistake.

What happens

A very tired stork drops a parcel at the wrong palace. Inside is a baby prince! By the next morning he's the size of a four-year-old, and the king is thrilled. A boy! He'll be king one day!

Princess Florizella is NOT thrilled. The kingdom was supposed to be hers.

Prince Bennett explains how it all works. Princesses get a long list of rules about what they mustn't do. Princes get the Prince Permit, which lets them do pretty much anything (including being first into battle and last into the lifeboats). So Florizella decides to teach her new brother Courier that it isn't fair.

Courier grows fast, and he's a brilliant character. When kidnappers carry them off into the Purple Forest, he whines for sweeties, then quietly drops a trail of peppermints all the way to their camp (he doesn't like peppermints anyway). At the seaside he happily puts on a pink dress and a tall pink hat to be tied up as bait for the Sea Serpent, because he's always wanted a swishy dress.

The adventures come thick and fast. There are pirates with sneaky blue sails, an eagle that swoops down on anyone with bad table manners and a Sea Serpent who might just prefer a picnic to a prince.

The jokes work for grown-ups too. Who hasn't had a parcel left with the neighbours? The point about boys and girls is very clear and very cheerful, and the book loves saying "Or vice versa".

There are a few darker jokes in there. Bennett cheerfully lists beheading people as one of a prince's rights, and the Sea Serpent has eaten a lot of princesses in the past. It's all silly rather than scary.

If your reader would love a princess who keeps a dagger in her boot, they'll love Florizella.

What to read next

This isn't the first book about her. For where it all began, with a royal ball and a prince looking for a bride, try The Princess Rules.