Code-Switch

Adrianna- A 16 year old princess struggling with her feelings about being a princess. She wants to experience life as an “average girl”, who does not have princess duties and can choose her own destiny.

No Leslie, I’m not lucky to be a princess! I want something more. I want  to feel free and independent. To not have maids around me all the time. to be able to do my own hair sometimes, to unfold my hands, relax my muscles from all the fake smiling, to not have a wardrobe picked out for me, to not be reprimanded for getting dirty or being unladylike, to sometimes take off my tiara and turn up without constantly having someone watching my every move to make sure I’m am not facing any harm, to wear sneakers and sweats for once in my life!

I know  I would be like every average girl, but… that's what I want. I wish.. I was like every normal girl. My future and destiny have already been chosen for me. Who says I wanted to be queen for the rest of my life? When I’m twenty one, I will have to rule the entire country. Maybe I wanted to be a doctor. Or something else in my life. Do you not understand that when I have daughters of my own, their future will also already be planned out? They TOO will have to be queen and that is not fair!

Yes, it is nice to be royalty sometimes. There are some advantages, but there are many more disadvantages than advantages. I don’t have to constantly work and make decisions, because I am not the queen YET. I can take a walk whenever I want, without having to ask anyone because there is so much security. I also can always help people struggling with my proceeds I receive. That makes me happy, and that is an advantage.  However, there is always  the constant thought and stress that comes with the thought of soon being a queen. That often scares me. When I was a girl, being a princess was the best thing in the world to me. I was every little girl’s dream. A princess. I didn’t have to wish I could meet a princess, I WAS one. But..now... that I’m older,  I want to learn for myself. When I’m queen, I am going to make a new law. Once the princess is sixteen years of age, she will be able to choose her own hairstyles, wardrobe, and will also have to learn things for herself. I feel like if my maids were to leave me for a week, I would be a wreck. I wouldn’t know how to do anything for myself! That isn’t a very dear thought.

Yes that's true! I would have you my dear best friend to teach me things. But.. I wouldn’t know how to do simple things for myself. I have never had to wash dishes, iron my own clothes, clean a bathroom, mop a dirty floor, or make up my own bed. I don’t even know what the first step to ironing is besides plugging up the machine. Every morning my clothes have already been prepared for me. And.. to my dismay...the hairstyle I shall be wearing for that day.

Yes Leslie I know but, sometimes I want to know what  it feels like to do things for once in my life like every normal girl out there.

No, it wouldn’t ruin the purpose of being a princess! It would at least keep the maids away more often. Life in the castle, makes me feel so dependent. The point of being a princess is to learn responsibility and to continue to rule the royal throne after her mother,  the queen. It is also to find the right king to help her rule the throne in grace and valor. It is also to be free and, independent, while at the same time being ladylike and prim. Ughh.. that's the thing.. I don’t feel free and independent even though that's what I’m supposed to do.  

There is no time to be free, I told you the maids are always around and my mother is constantly nagging me with etiquette lessons. I need a break. I am only sixteen! Twenty one is a long ways off. You witness it yourself when you stay at the castle! The constant curtsying and asking if I’m okay. Sometimes I want to hide, but it would cause an uproar. Then there would be disappointment on my part and no independence.

Leslie, I know I need to learn early but just a day or even a week of independence. So that I can see how life would be as any average girl. To be fairly honest with you. Any girl can be a princess. There’s really nothing magical about it. There’s just maids, smiling, constant leg crossing, and the life of luxury. I need a break! Being independent would not only make me more reliant on myself but it would teach me how to choose my own destiny and that is my wish to choose my own destiny and my own path.

Being a princess does not necessarily allow me to do that. But you're right it is a magical experience one that should be cherished even when my role changes to queen. From now on, my satisfaction will come with knowing that I am a  vessel of royalty. I believe that any girl could be a princess. Even if I was a normal girl, I could still be a princess. It would just take a little magic and belief in my heart!

I am grateful to be a princess and I am too grateful for you Leslie, my dear best friend. Who helped me see that being princess is not at all as it seems. Independence and freedom starts with me!