Mom! Let’s play Moana! You be Moana’s Mom!
Is she dead or does she die?
No.
Okay I’m in.
Q is for the Queen.
Fairy tales, Disney and the Princess Industrial Complex ensure that the whole concept of royalty is understood – at least on some level – pretty early on in childhood.
Princess play happens regularly.
And as mom? I get to be Queen.
I generally feel in Disney play this is a pretty tricky role, what with most of them being absent or evil.
But a quick Google search proves me somewhat wrong:
So yes, after this refresher, I am reminded of some Disney Queens other than Elsa and the Evil ones that, well, are not only alive but actually have speaking roles.
Bring on Miranda (starting about 54 seconds into this video once the princess has had a good solo) from Sofia the First!
And now that I’m thinking about it I’m also pretty fond of Clarisse Renaldi because, really, who doesn’t love Julie Andrews?
From the Princess Diaries
But if you are wondering who some of those other Queenly ladies are (because looking into a few of them shows many to be minor characters), here is a helpful wiki feature on Queens where you can click on each of them to find out more.
And regardless of all that, their role in Disney is basically in supporting the main character: The Princess!
Given this, there is little surprise that my daughters failed to appreciate the power dynamic between Princess and Queen.
So it came as a bit of a shock when I first explained that the Queen ruled. Not the princesses.
And how did I prove my point?
I explained that Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses were real, and Canada has a Queen who has been happily ruling for years.
That brought us over to YouTube where I found this video that my 7-year-old found fascinating and my 4-year-old managed to sit through:
We then had a side bar about real princesses and my eldest was captivated by stories of Princess Diana and the fact that there is a current prince and princess with young children!
But then we got back on point.
Which is that, as far as royalty goes, it’s really all about whoever is wearing the crown. In this case? The Queen.
As an aside, this video brought on a week of my kids drawing pictures in black and white of older relatives including, my great-aunt Eileen who we met back at letter G for Girl Guides. This was after another lengthy sidebar about how picture and video, once upon a time, didn’t have colour.
And then I found this wonderful montage to quickly show just how long she’s been the focus:
On a related note, I have to say that I love this montage for another reason. Last month we celebrated International Day of the Woman and this image went around the Internet:
At first I couldn’t figure out why it bothered me.
Then I realized it was because it made it look like most of a woman’s life happens in the lead up to kids.
Aside from its presumption that your goal in life is to have kids, after that, rather like in a Disney movie (or as I learnt via an essay I did in Grad school, much traditional French Canadian literature), life appears to be kind of … done with nothing much more to see there.
Considering I’ve already checked that box and feel like I have quite a bit left to go, when I found this montage which really showed such a long and full life all I could do was fist pump in the air and shout:
Long Live the Queen!
Baby Gates Down 
I have a big problem with the whole princess thing. When my daughter was watching TV as a youngster and lying on the couch while I was cleaning up around her she asked, “Do queens have to pick up things? I’m going to be a queen when I grow up.” I get a good laugh out of that. Queen of what? Thanks for sharing the videos with the “real” story.
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If I’m the queen here – then we certainly have to pick things up. But I like the way your daughter thinks!
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She really is quite a remarkable woman. An entire life spent in service, lived under the gaze of media and scrutinised for every decision. When you think about it, that’s a strong individual.
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No kidding. I think about how much effort it takes for me to do presentations or speak in public and what it takes out of me and then imagine doing that for years! I know you get used to being a public figure, but yes, I think she is an incredibly strong and admirable individual.
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Exactly! I hate public speaking, loathe it actually. And I’m not really comfortable in the limelight. So, I look at this woman and the life she’s had and it’s astounding. I think she gets overlooked and too harshly criticised but if someone’s looking for an example of a “strong woman” – there she is.
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I think it’s very easy to criticise the position – ie: born into it, didn’t earn it etc… and I think that even makes me admire her more for how she has acted in the role – honouring the position and understanding both its power and limits. And what a life she has lived! There at so much of history happening (making speeches and looking so calm and poised that I’m exhausted just watching the black and white footage).
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I admire the Queen personally, but the whole concept? Meh.
Agree with you about most of life happening after children – and hopefully it’s all the exciting stuff!
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I’ve gone back and forth on the concept of royalty but have landed on I like it for Canada. As for lots of living in later life. YES! BRING IT!
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Thankfully, my daughter nor my granddaughter has ever requires me to play princess. I’d probably puke pink and blue. 😉 Daughter insisted we play horses, or let her pretend to be Allen Jackson as he looked like her Daddy back then. Granddaughter likes to pretend to be a vet, be fishing, be a soccer coach.
Pretending with youngsters opens our imaginations and minds!
Perspectives at Life & Faith in Caneyhead
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My mom is actually pretty fantastic at non-princess imaginary play with my kids – and in particular my eldest. It is one more reason I love her. She connects with my daughter there in a way I don’t and that I think is special to them both. They have imaginary worlds that play out in our living room!
It’s funny you mentioned horses, though. I tend to wonder if that might almost be a girl “thing” too – my niece went horse crazy a few years ago (of course, she lives in the country and can also ride them – but scrapbooking horses and Heartland and the whole bit). My 7-year-old recently brought home some girl comic book from her school library all about horses too. Made me wonder a little bit. But maybe just an extension or harkening back to farm/zoo animal focus of really early childhood? I feel there may be a post there…
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I bet there could be! My daughter has a horse of her own since she was five.
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Reminded me of my childhood, when I asked my mom why there were no kings or queens anymore, and she said, there are, in other parts of the world, but not exactly like in the fairy tales 🙂
Agree with your point about representation of women – I mean, OF COURSE there are more exciting times before and after kids, and even that is a choice.
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Not exactly like in the fairy tales indeed! It was an interesting conversation with my eldest.
And as for life after kids – I am enjoying the current phase and am sure I will enjoy whatever comes next – AND it will be packed with much more living!
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Much food for thought here!! I have two sons, so I haven’t had the princess experience. My younger son loves animation. That means we have seen everything Disney has produced along with the works of Miyazaki and other animators. Miyazaki is big on strong young women. Princess Mononoke would give the toughest Disney princess a real run for her money! Thank you for visiting my blog. Happy A to Z!
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I am not familiar with Miyazaki – I shall have to look that up! Thanks for the tip.
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Wonderful post, my blog queen! Lol, I did chuckle when you were explaining about Queen’s and Princesses.
The best though, was the video on Queen Elizabeth II. I am a huge fan of the Queen, and the video choked me up and brought a dew to my eyes. Thank you for that!
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I had SO MUCH fun searching for good montage videos of the Queen with my eldest. If you mean that “facts you didn’t know” one, that was my favourite!
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Not sure how I missed this one! Did you watch The Queen on Netflix? It was just the first chapter but was quite interesting to see how she handling the transition to becoming the Queen so young. I’m a fan of the royal family. I especially like the younger royals. They are doing a lot of good work. I saw where recently they were speaking out on mental health awareness. Such a great thing. WeekendsInMaine
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I have seen The Queen on Netflix – I thought it was really well done. I also found it interesting they are doing it in their lifetime. I wondered if they sat at the palace watching and commenting on whether they’d been captured well or not. I suspect her husband might have views on that 🙂
I admit, other than that, to not really following the royal family. Though I suspect I may start so as to have something to do with my daughter that can launch discussions on other issues.
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At least Prince Philip was played by Matt Smith. That’s a bonus. I’d opt not to watch it if it was my life. I’d probably get too annoyed even if they got it right.
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I think I’d have to watch if it was about me, but I can see that point too.
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