Princess

Note: although Greece is a republic following the abolition of the monarchy, these titles are granted as courtesy in certain countries, particularly Denmark, and so are included in this list. Technology continues to provide and expand means for human beings to represent, record and express their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Princess is also a popular pet name. Amongst the earliest are cave painting, runic alphabets and hieroglyphics. The term was used in this last way to describe a character played by actress Molly Ringwald in the adolescent film The Breakfast Club, and Target stores now carry T-shirts with the word "Princess" for people who want to advertise themselves as demanding of attention or luxury. Historical records of events have been made for thousands of years in one form or another. It is from this usage that the relatively new slang term of "princess" connotes a pampered and selfish girl or young person.

Widely used as a term of endearment, "princess" has also devolved in mostly American usage to mean any woman of exceptional popularity, such as the "princesses" of high school prom courts and beauty pagents. In fact, most princesses in history were not immediate members of a royal family. This practice has led over time to many people thinking that "prince" and "princess" are titles reserved for the immediate family of a king or queen. In many of Europe's royal families, a king would grant his heirs actual or theoretical principalities to train them for future kingship or to give them social rank.

For an example of when "princess" still indicates essential slavery to a prince, see the book Princess, about life amongst the wives of the Saudi royal family. The implication is that if the man held the equivalent masculine title, he would have rank over his wife without the necessary pedigree. The ancient meaning applies in Europe still to the extent that a female commoner who marries a prince will almost always become a princess, but a male commoner who marries a princess will almost never become a prince. In some cases then, a princess is the female hereditary head of state of a province or other significant area in her own right.

As women have slowly gained more autonomy through European history, the title of princess has become simply the feminine equivalent of prince and does not necessarily imply being controlled or owned by a prince. Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or her daughters, women whose station in life depended on their relationship to a prince and who could be disowned and stripped of the title if he so chose. Princess is the feminine form of prince (Latin princeps, meaning principal citizen), using the 'ess' ending as in 'waitress' or 'actress'. Princess Clara from Drawn Together.

Mia Thermopolis, princess of Genovia in The Princess Diaries. Princess Fiona from Shrek. Melisande in Edith Nesbit's children's story of the same name. Mermaid Princesses of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.

Hana from Magical Doremi. Princess Serenity from Sailor Moon. Ayeka and Sasami from Tenchi Muyo!. Princess Daisy, of the Super Mario universe.

Princess Peach, of the Super Mario universe. Princess Zelda, namesake character from the popular Nintendo video game. Marle from the video game Chrono Trigger. Garnet Til Alexandros, Final Fantasy IX.

Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, King Lear's daughters. Perdita from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. Ozma, ruler of the land of Oz. Eilonwy from the Chronicles of Prydain.

Lasaraleen Tarkheena from The Chronicles of Narnia. Leia Organa of Alderaan. Cinderella. Cagalli Yula Athha from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny.

Belle from the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty. Snow White. Jasmine from the Disney film Aladdin.

Ariel from the Disney film The Little Mermaid. Princess Adora of Eternia, better known as She-Ra. Ororo, better known as Storm of the X-Men. Diana of the Amazons, better known as Wonder Woman.

Anya Smith- Oscar winning role for Audrey Hepburn in the film Roman Holiday. Greece: Marie-Chantal, Maria Olympia, Alexia, Theodora and Irene. Uganda: Elizabeth Bagaaya Akiiki of Toro kingdom, who was the nation's first female lawyer, a former top model for couturiers, and a former minister and ambassador in the government of Idi Amin. Sweden: Victoria, Madeleine, Lilian, Margaretha, Birgitta, Désirée and Christina.

Spain: Letizia, Leonor, Elena, Cristina, Pilar and Margarita. South Africa: Winfred "Dolly" Zulu, a political figure, and Zenani Mandela Dlamini, an heiress of former President Nelson Mandela. Norway: Mette-Marit, Ingrid Alexandra, Martha Louise, Ragnhild and Astrid. Netherlands: Máxima, Catharina-Amalia, Alexia, Laurentien, Mabel, Margriet, Marilene, Annette, Anita and Aimée.

Morocco: Lalla Salma, Lalla Asma, Lalla Hasna, and Lalla Meryem. Monaco: Antoinette, Caroline, and Stéphanie. Liechtenstein: Marie Aglaë, Sophie, Marie-Caroline, Angela, Marie, Georgina, Tatjana, Isabelle, Margaretha, Maria-Annunciata, Marie-Astrid and Nora. Jordan: Basma bint Talal, an international advocate for children and women, HRH Princess Haya bint Hussein, HRH Princess Sana Asem, HRH Princess Noor bint Asem bin Nayef.

Japan: Masako, Aiko, Kiko, Kako, Mako, Hanako, Yuriko, Nobuko, Akiko, Yohko, Hisako, Tsuguko, Noriko and Ayako. Denmark: Mary, Alexandra, Benedikte and Elisabeth. Burundi: Esther Kamatari, an emigré of 35 years, who is returning to Burundi to campaign as a potential president. British Commonwealth: Anne, Beatrice, Eugenie, Camilla, Sophie, Alexandra, Katharine, Marie-Christine and Birgitte.

Bulgaria: Princess Kalina Saxe-Coburg-Gotha/Sajonia-Coburgo (only daughter of former Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria). Belgium: Mathilde, Elisabeth, Astrid, Luisa Maria, Maria Laura, Laetitia Maria, Claire and Louise. Austria. Sisi, Elisabeth of Bavaria.

Emily Ruete) (1844-1924), Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. Sayyida Salme (a.k.a. Marie Thérèse Louise de Savoie-Carignan, princesse de Lamballe, companion to Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Kaiulani of Hawaii.

Grace Kelly, wife of Prince Rainier of Monaco. Diana, Princess of Wales. Princess Caraboo, actually a British woman of modest means who for a while passed herself off as an exotic island princess.