The Royal Diaries

A spinoff of Dear America, The Royal Diaries is a series of fictional diaries spotlighting various royal women as they begin their transition from girl to historical figure of royalty. They're shown dealing with the political realities of their times, restrictions against women, and oftentimes a good deal of backbiting with their siblings.

Examples include Cleopatra VII, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine the Great, Marie Antoinette, Nzingha the Ngola of Matamba, Queen Isabella I of Castile, Grand Duchess Anastasia, Jahanara Begum of India, Queen Victoria, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Christina of Sweden, Queen Sondok of Silla, Princess Kazunomiya of Japan, Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii, Shana Kin Yaxchel Pacal of Bacal, Chief Weetamoo of the Pocasset band of the Wampanoag Nation, Lady of Ch'iao Kuo of Southern China and Queen Anacaona of Xaragua.

"Kazunomiya: Tell me the story of the dragon ships Aunti: Chikako, I tell you this story a million times. Now is not the time. Kazunomiya: Yes, it is. I shall roast you some beans - beans and green tea."
 * Ancient Africa: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba
 * Ancient Egypt: Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile
 * Arranged Marriage: Not as many as you would think. More then half of the princesses got to choose a husband or never married.
 * Artistic License: Especially with more ancient time periods, like Cleopatra or the Lady of Chiao Kuo, or times and places with less extant records.
 * Badass Princess: Nzingha wants to hunt with her father once before she gets married which she gets to do and the men are impressed with her skill in Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba.
 * The princess of Anacaona: Golden Flower surprised her new husband with her skill with the spear. After that he welcomed her to train with the warriors.
 * Body Double: Mary, Queen of Scots switched places with her chamber maid to go see the astrologer Nostradamus.
 * Book Dumb/Dumb Is Good: Elizabeth I's maid of the chamber, Mary Ward had no desire to learn to read because she has risen as far as a servant can by serving a princess.
 * The Champion: Eleanor has a knight in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine who is devoted to her in word and deed. In a letter Clotaire the Strong praises Eleanor and describes how he will protect her.
 * Childhood Friends: Cleopatra feels affection for her dear friend and fellow student Olympus even though she is royal and he is common in Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile.
 * Coming of Age Story: Nzingha is presented at a coming-of-age dance to show her eligiblty to marry in Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba.
 * Anacaona has a hair cutting ceremony to show that she has become a woman in Anacaona: Golden Flower.
 * Continuity Nod: Kathryn Lasky wrote the diaries for Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots and Jahanara, Begum Sahib. Both of the latter two books contain refeces to Elizabeth, including Jahanara wearing a pendant of The Virgin Queen.
 * Costume Porn: At the Pleiades ball in Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country Mary's outfit is decribed from her jewles on and off the dress to her detailed Scottish cap and her instructions for how her companions are to dress to contrast her.
 * Courtly Love: Even after she's married to her prince, Eleanor's knight in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine pledges a vow of loyalty to his duchess.
 * Daddy's Girl: Applicable to many of the girl to an extent but Princess Elizabeth in Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor is her father's little princess, the true Tudor rose.
 * Dances and Balls: Marie Antoinette was presented as the future queen of France to her people and the French delegation at a couple of royal balls.
 * In Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without A Country the French hold a grand ball just before Christmas where the queen gets to wear her new ball gown.
 * In Kaiulani: The People's Princess despite being only thirteen Kaiulani gets to attend a some evening outings. One was a ball in honor of her cousin's twenty-first birthday as a reminder that he is third in line for the throne after the princess. The waltzes are her favorite dance.
 * Democracy Is Bad: Although this is expected, considering that, well, they're royals, it's still quite jarring to hear this presented from the protagonists, who are supposed to be sympathetic to the very end.
 * In Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess she say that the idea of the Czar sharing his power is crazy.
 * In Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles the Archduchess thinks that it is impossible for a person to really be handsome if he is of low birth.
 * In Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile the pharaoh says that only the noble class should study philosophy and astronomy. The princess doesn't like like it but agrees.
 * In Jahanara: Princess of Princesses the princess never thought of servants thinking about anything but the most practical matters.
 * Inverted in Elisabeth: The Princess Bride who, as it was stated in the end, prefered a democracy. There is an implied inversion with all the wise princesses especially with Sondok, Princess of The Moon And Stars where she is proud of how forward her kingdom is which requires an unimous aristocratic vote before they can inact any important law.
 * Disappeared Dad - Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country and Kristina: The Girl King, Sweden
 * Everything's Better with Princesses - Played with to become everything's worse with princesses as all of the narrators are technically royal and young but that's what makes their lives worse than a non-princess sooner or latter. Hope that it's sooner.
 * The Fashionista - In Kaiulani: The People's Princess the main character at several times tells us just what she's wearing, loves to dress up especially in frilly things and once she gets invited to the White House she says that her biggest problem will be decideing what to wear. It is good that she's so fashion conscious because when she makes a presentation for her country the newspapers describe her outfit in painstaking detail.
 * Fiery Redhead - Elizabeth of Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor can swear up a storm when she wants to.
 * The French Revolution: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles
 * Gilded Cage: At the beginning of Jahanara: Princess of Princesses, Jahanara and her family are being imprisoned by Nur Mahal.
 * The royals of Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven are rarely permitted to leave the palace by the general who signed a tready with the Americans.
 * Girl Next Door: In Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country Mary Queen of Scots acts like she loves her betrothed, Francis the Dauphin, even if she's not in love with him and would marry him even if it was her choice.
 * Prince Louis is a boy next door in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine as she says that he is kind and pleasant looking but mild as a monk.
 * Gorgeous Period Dress: In Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine we learn that it is the Aquitaine way to dress in bright colors with plenty of jewels. At one point Petra, Eleanor's sister, wears a gown of emerald while the main character wears one of blue and each of them wear white silk shoes beaded with pearls to contrast.
 * Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven must dress in a style from the old classical period. She wears the colors of earlist spring, shades of wisteria, and the outermost kimono is lavender, linded with blue.
 * The High Middle Ages: Eleanor of Aquitaine
 * The High Queen: Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile has the the king's daughter standing up for her father and country, in Latin, to General Pompey the Great who immediately gives the Princess of the Nile the respect she deserves.
 * Historical Domain Character: Many!
 * Historical Villain Upgrade - Mary I in Red Rose of the House of Tudor, who is portrayed as devious, cunning, and hateful towards her younger siblings. While her relationships with Elizabeth and Edward certainly cooled later in life, during their childhoods, the much-older Mary acted as a mother figure, and was on record as being hopelessly naive and guileless. The enmity between her and Elizabeth didn't really kick into gear until after Mary became queen; it's not until she starts burning Protestants that she really deserves this.
 * Hot Consort: In Elisabeth, The Princess Bride the Emperor defied his mother in his choice of who to marry because of Elisabeth's beauty and spirited nature.
 * Imperial China: Lady of Ch'iao Kuo
 * In Mysterious Ways: Isabella I of Castile refused to fight her brother, the king, but instead become his heir because it was what God wanted. Eventually this led to the uniting of Castile and Aragon to form Spain.
 * Elizabeth I of England and Catherine The Great each said that it didn't matter what religion they were as long as they worshiped God.
 * Just Friends: Queen Kristina of Sweden from Kristina, The Girl King, felt this way about her cousin and good friend Karl even after he expressed desire to marry her.
 * King Incognito: It occurred to Queen Kristina of Sweden from Kristina, The Girl King, that if she were disguised as a boy she wouldn't have to ride sidesaddle.
 * Mary, Queen of Scots gets to take an exciting journy with Diane de Poitiers through the French counrtyside where they take none of the royal standards or emblems.
 * Princess Cleopatra would wander the harbor with her favorite maid dressed as common Creek girls so they could passed unnoticed.
 * In Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine after her father had his conversion he became more of a Wise Prince to the point of being seen doing sevarnts' work while dressed accordingly to going on a pilgrimage while dressed as every other pilgrim.
 * For Isabel to marry who she wanted in Isabel: Jewel of Castilla Isabel had to sneak around her brother's back traveling first as minstrels and later as monks.
 * Knight in Shining Armour: Since Eleanor has a crush on a knight in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine she wants him to be her bodyguard. Once when they are attacked he pullls her into his saddle and races her back to the safety of the castle.
 * Last Request: Her Aunt Katrina's last wish to Queen Kristina of Sweden from Kristina, The Girl King, is for her to marry her cousin Karl.
 * Momma's Boy: Franz Joseph I of Austria in Elisabeth: The Princess Bride would do nothing to help his young bride against his mother.
 * Masquerade Ball: In Catherine, The Great Journey the emperess commanded everyone to come to a number of balls dressed as a member of the opposit sex.
 * In Tudor England nearly every festivity is celebrated in costume. Most rowdy is Twelth Night where everyone wore a disguise and Princess Elizabeth saw unmarried couples sneeking off to be with each other.
 * For Midsummer Night in Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without A Country everyone was dressed up so while the young queen and her ladies were playing their games of chase and hid-and-seek through the garden their tudor Signore Marcelline jumped out of the hedge and nearly pounced on one of the ladies, mistaking her in her costume for another one that he had been forceing his attentions on, thus revealing him.
 * Marry for Love: Isabella I of Castile went behind her brother's back to marry the young, handsome, kind and intelligent heir of Aragon after her stole her heart.
 * Massive-Numbered Siblings - In Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba her father has many wives so there another sibling being born almost every month.
 * In Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles the princess was the youngest in a family of twelve brothers and sisters.
 * In Jahanara: Princess of Princesses the princess has two sisters and four brothers by the time the story ends.
 * Matriarchy: Because Taino society of Anacaona: Golden Flower was matriarchal, one could only inherit a ruling position through a female felative, the way Anacaona's uncle, for example, inherited his rule from her grandmother.
 * Missing Mom: The main character in Kaiulani: The People's Princess tells the story of how her dear Mama died.
 * The main character in Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor asked to be shown where her mother was executed.
 * The main character in Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile lost her mother.
 * The Mistress: Diane de Poitiers for Henry II of France was looked up to like a mother by little Mary Queen of Scots but Madame Du Barry for Louis XV of France was seen as a rival to Marie Antoinette.
 * Modest Royalty: In Isabel, Jewel of Castilla, when her brother, the king, was dressed as if he had been farming and her sister-in-law the queen was wearing a revealing, fancy outfit the Princess was dressed in a plain woolen gown with no jewles.
 * Never a Self-Made Woman - Played Straight in Elisabeth: The Princess Bride who feels over shadowed by the emperor's title since their engagement, but without him would never have become the people's beloved Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Historically though, it was played with just about anyway possible because history didn't care how the royal became famous, just that she got there.
 * Played Straight in Jahanara: Princess of Princesses who exhibited influence at court by taking her mother's place next to her father as the uncrowned empress even though her father had three other wives to choose from.
 * Played Straight in Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess who was the most interesting daughter of the last sovereign of Imperial Russia.
 * Exaggerated with Catherine: The Great Journey who was a daughter of a princess from a small royal family and a major general in the army but went on to marry the heir of the Russian empress and on his death become Catherine II.
 * Justified in Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles who's biggest decision of the day was what to wear and was beheaded for being an Austrian princess and the French queen.
 * Inverted in Queen Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia who realized that she was closer to the throne than she thought and thus her husband would gain his success through her.
 * Subverted in Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine who was duchess of Aquitaine in her own right before she married the prince.
 * Double Subverted in Isabel: Jewel of Castilla who knowing that she was going to become a powerful queen chose the heir of the less powerful but adjoining Spanish kingdom as her husband.
 * Zig Zagged in Anacaona: Golden Flower who was next in line for the throne with her brother, but surrendered it to him to marry the ruler of an equally powerful region where she was called a warrior because her husband had fought so many wars, but then after he died she went to her homeland to rule with her brother until her brother died and she became the sole ruler.
 * Averted in Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile who knew that she was next in line to be queen now that her sisters are gone.
 * Averted in Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country who was queen of Scotland and betrothed to the Dauphin of France.
 * Averted in Kaiulani: The People's Princess when her uncle the King reminds her that it will be her responsibility to do as well as possible in her education to further the hope of their nation that she will someday lead.
 * Averted in Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba who's father gives her his blessing to rule Ndongo when the time comes.
 * Defied in Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars who wanted the respect that a male heir would receive.
 * Defied in Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor who was not expected to become queen and told her best friend that she would never marry.
 * Defied in Kristina: The Girl King who told everyone that she would never marry.
 * No Periods, Period: Princess Elizabeth told Robin that they couldn't play games to calm the ghost of Catherine Howard because they weren't children any more and therefore unreconizable. She had that winter begun her monthly courses.
 * One of the Boys: Queen Kristina of Sweden from Kristina, The Girl King, is happier competing and swearing with the boys than spending time with the girls.
 * Only Child Syndrome - The main characters of Kristina: The Girl King, Mary: Queen Without A Country and Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia are their parents only children.
 * Pimped-Out Dress: To show her status as the next queen of France Archduchess Antonia was dressed for the ball in violet blue satin with French lace sleeves ruffles with her hair most pimped out. It was piled up very high and woven into it were silk roses and toy birds with real feathers. This took four hours.
 * In Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without A Country at the liveliest ball of the season the queen wears her most dazzling costume ever in homage to the greatest poets in Frence and, most likely Europe.
 * Platonic Life Partners: Robin Dudley is Princess Elizabeth's best friend and the child she most enjoys spending time with.
 * Prince Charming: Emperor Franz Joseph I, was able to win over Elisabeth because she consired him to be playful, considerate and charming.
 * In Isabel, Jewel of Castilla it takes less than two hours for Fernando, Prince of Agagon and King of Sicily, to steal the princess's heart with his humor, authority and imagination.
 * Archduchess Antonia is a princess who uses all her charms to get the king to reinstate her banished Lady-in-Waiting.
 * Prince Charmless: In Catherine The Great Journey by the time Catherine married the weak Man Child Peter III Of Russia he was disfigured from smallpox and refused to have anything to do with the country that he would one day rule.
 * Archduchess Antonia's "horrifying" first impression of her husband is that he is fat, oafish, pimply, dirty and silent.
 * Princess Classic: In Victoria May Blossom of Britannia the main character was an ambitious artist who would tear out her pages because she expressed sadness or anger in her disire to be good.
 * Princess Curls: Archduchess Antonia of Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles purposely told her hairdresser to let one long curl fall down upon her collarbone, which she began to wind around her middle finger as she talked to the king.
 * Princess for a Day: In Catherine, The Great Journey she has nothing nice enough to wear to the royal court until the king lets her borrow a gown belonging to the king's sister. When she has to return it it reminds her of the story about the little ash girl who was beautiful until the stroke of midnight.
 * Protagonist-Centered Morality: Borderline case in the book about Ka'iulani. After the coup d'etat that removes the Hawaiian royal family from power, Ka'iulani complains that the new President of Hawaii is not elected by the people. Of course, this completely ignores the fact that none of the previous rulers were elected by the people, and she didn't care too much. Granted, the Americans were no saints, to say the least, but the book seems to imply that autocratic rule is okay when the protagonists do it.
 * Rebel Prince: When young King Chinpyong in Sondok, Princess of The Moon And Stars came to the throne he would hunt for days, completely ignoring the needs of the kingdom.
 * Rebellious Princess: Empress Elisabeth of Austria goes from being a carefree girl who enjoys spending time with the common people to a child, sold at fifteen and taking an oath she did not understand and could never undo.
 * Reluctant Ruler: Queen Kristina of Sweden from Kristina, The Girl King, wishes that she could be free of all restraints so that she can travel which she does do after abdicating the throne.
 * The Renaissance: Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country and Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor
 * Royal Blood: Their birthright dictates that either her brother, Behechio, or the princess are to one day rule Xaragua in Anacaona: Golden Flower.
 * Royal Brat: Though well intentioned the princess of Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba accuses her father's loyal adviser of wanting to betray them because he was from the invading people. Her father gets angry and she realizes that she has shamed her family.
 * The princess of Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars has the knowlege of the night sky but not the wisdom to keep it to herself when she feel that the king's guest is wrong. Because of her royal rank she feels that she should speak her mind in contrast to her father and his ambassador.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: After Sonwha accuses her sister Princess Sondok of being in love with Chajang, a lower class boy, despite thinking to her self that that kind of talk makes all girls look simpleminded and ridiculous Sondok startes to realize that she is attracted to her friend.
 * She Is the King: Queen Kristina of Sweden from Kristina, The Girl King, not only was raised as a prince but by the end of the story she proved that she would be as great a king as any man and so the chancellor began refering to her as "king," the one who rules.
 * Tell Me Again: Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven


 * Tomboy Princess: Anastasia would rather climb trees than dance while Archduchess Antonia's favorite activity is horse riding astride through the mud.
 * Unlimited Wardrobe - In Kaiulani: The People's Princess she says that she will be getting a whole new wardrobe for her trip to England and lists some things that will go into it finishing with "Oh, there seems to be no end to it!" Also applicable to Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles and Elisabeth: The Princess Bride as they go off to become the queen of France and the Empress of Austria.
 * In Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal she says that she will have to change her clothes three times a day when she is queen to be able to wear everything that she is given.
 * Victorian Britain: Queen Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia
 * Warrior Prince: Henry VIII commanded a massive invasionary force against France to teach the French king about England's power.
 * Well Done Daughter Girl: Elizabeth I is frequently concerned that her father may hold contempt for her.
 * Wise Prince: In Catherine, The Great Journey, the Grand Duchess wondered how so much honor is bestowed on them, yet no power to help those who someday will be their subjects.
 * Queen Kristina, after seeing the suffering of her subjects who were in prison, begged her almoner to give them extra bread and meat and by the end of the story she notifies her advisor that she whises to leave soon for the lengthy trip through Sweden so that she may get to know her country and her subjects.
 * Princess Sondok, heir of the Korean kingdon Silla, questions if rank can be so important that those with out it are denied even a final resting place and when she sees the peasants hard at work it begins to make her ashamed of how much rice she leaves in her bowl every day.
 * Lady Eleanor feels that if the people have suffered because of her father's harshness than she is truly sorry and will try to make it up to them. Also when ever she hears about someone who unnecessarily did or could have become injured or died she makes an order to prevent it from happening again.
 * Princess Cleopatra talked with people and studyed to learn many languages so that she would be able to communicate with her people and those of neighboring countries. Also, by the end of the book she decides that to become a good queen she she needs to get to know her people still better and will take a trip down the Nile.
 * Princess Jahanara sees the starving prople that they pass by and can't stop thinking about them. When she sees a baby look at her she feels compelled to take it so she can give her a better life.
 * Princess Anacaona says that all she doesn't know what the future holds but weather as the ruler or a mother, whatever she does it will always be for the good of her people.
 * The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: To the peasants, their empress in Catherine, The Great Journey is pious. But at nightfall when the return to their huts, most of them are unable to see that she is quite the opposite once the sun sets.
 * Empress Marie Theresa looked at her daughter as if to say, We are rulers, Antonia. Majesty is required. Earlier the empress had gone wading in the fountian pool and she wants her daughter to understand the difference between this kind of behavior, which must be kept private, and the conduct of a queen, which is for the qublic.
 * Wretched Hive: This is pretty much the characterization of Ancient Rome.