The Ordinary Princess

Lavender's blue, rosemary's green, When I am king, you shall be queen.

I remember this tale (written by M. M. Kaye, first published in 1980) from when I was a young girl. I stumbled across a copy at the public library in Grand Island, Nebraska. (Upon reflection, it seems as if most of my book adventures start out as happy accidents.)

This is the story of a young princess named Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne of Phantasmorania. Of course, she answered to Amy.

She had six older sisters and each of them were blessed with lovely gifts when they were born. Beauty. Grace. When she was born, the fairies visited, and gave her the gift of Ordinary. While her beautiful sisters grew up with a love of fine things and proper behavior, Amy was given brown hair and freckles, and she loved to play outdoors, getting dirty and all scratched up in the woods.

She discovered her parents, the king and queen of Phantasmorania, were looking to hire a dragon so that a young princes could have a chance to slay it, thereby winning her hand in marriage, she ran away into the Forest of Far Away.

She lived in the forest for some time, making friends with the animals, and became close friends with a crow and a squirrel. (I don’t remember if the animals could talk, but I feel certain they probably did. It is a fairy tale after all.)

Eventually, she noticed that her clothes were in tatters. She remembered learning that she needed money to get clothes. (She was a princess after all, and had never bought or made her own clothes.)

She found the castle of the King of Ambergeldar and became the fourteenth assistant kitchen maid. Shortly after starting there, she met a young man name Peregrine, who was a bit of a jack of all trades around the castle. The two of them became friends just as they were.

Upon discovering her parents had sent word to all the surrounding kingdoms that she was missing, she told Peregrne who she really was. He told her she should be whomever she wanted to be, but that she might want to consider letting her parents know she was alive. He then admitted to her that he was King Algernon of Ambergeldar.

Of course it ended in happily ever after, as all good fairy tales should. She married Peregrine, and they lived happily in his castle. Amy was able to be exactly who she wanted to be. Ordinary.

I always wished I had "accidentally" kept (or bought) this book when I was young, because for many years after I left home, I couldn't find it. I searched online, using the phrase “Lavender's blue, rosemary's green, When I am king, you shall be queen” but I could never quite remember the exact words. Happily, I happened to see it mentioned on Pinterest a couple years ago. I was elated!

This post is part of the 31 Days of Bibliophilia series.