The Ordinary Princess
The Ordinary Princess is a Fairy Tale novel written by M.M. Kaye.
The story starts when the birth of Princess Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne is announced. The princess is going to be the seventh child born to the King and Queen, and everyone knows that the seventh child is always the nicest, most beautiful, kindest and all around best child to be born. Fairies are invited to her Christening, and the all give her gifts. Except of course, for beauty, as she is the seventh child and already beautiful.
Then comes in the fairy Crustacea who's old and grumpy, and decides to give the princess the gift/curse of being "ordinary".
As Princess Amy (Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne is not the name for someone so ordinary), she likes to do ordinary things, much to the despair of her parents. By the time she is of marriageable age, she is quite un-Princess-like, and no one wants to marry her. Her parents decide that they will hire a dragon, and whoever beats the dragon has to marry Amy.
Amy doesn't like this plan, and so she decides to run away from home.
Eventually Amy ends up working as a scullery maid in a kingdom far far away, where she meets Peregrine, and shares illicit ice cream with him. Of course, Peregrine is hiding a secret of his own...
- Blessed with Suck: This is how everyone views the "gift" that is bestowed on Amy.
- Cursed with Awesome: This is how Amy sees herself.
- Dances and Balls
- Embarrassing First Name: Peregrine, whose first name is Algernon.
- Everything's Better with Princesses
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry
- The Fair Folk
- Friend to All Living Things: Amy, even though she's far from a proper princess.
- Happily Ever After
- Princess Classic: Played with, as princesses have criteria:
- Blue Eyes
- Costume Porn (and are perfectly okay with it, unlike Amy who finds the trappings of royalty uncomfortable and heavy)
- Damsel in Distress
- Hair of Gold
- Princess Curls
- Rapunzel Hair
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Amethyst isn't the type of name you give to someone who's "ordinary", so it's just "Amy".
- Overly Long Name: Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne
- Princess in Rags
- Purity Sue: Parodied and played with in-universe. Princesses and Princes are expected to be like this, with the exception of Amy and Perry who make fun of them, saying they are rather uninteresting and humourless.
- Real Name as an Alias: Who would expect a princess to be called "Amy", anyway?
- Theme Naming: All of Amy's sisters are named for jewels.