Princess Charming

By analogy with Prince Charming.

Princess Charming (plural Princess Charmings or Princesses Charming)

1. Female equivalent of Prince Charming.
   • 1956 October 3, Lord Kinross [i.e., Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross], “Dreams Come True”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume CCXXXI, number 6057, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 408, column 1:

     The crowd outside, in its grandstands built out over the pavement, glitters equally, stenographers and secretaries and salesgirls Cinderellas no longer, but Princesses Charming, transfigured by the art of the Beautician. For even the Hollywood face has now become so adapted as to fall within the reach of all.

   • 1967 August 28, Malcolm W[ilde] Browne, “Only a Few Win Catskills Mating Game, but Wait Till Next Year; Hotels' Singles Week Is Over for Lonely of All Ages”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 January 2026:

     For many of the guests at both Grossinger's and the Concord, Singles Week was an ordeal of waiting, watching, seeking and trying to look and sound attractive. Endless hours were spent sitting decoratively in the vast lobbies, hoping Prince or Princess Charming would appear.

   • 1978, Walter McVitty, “WILLIAMS, JAY The Practical Princess and other Liberating Fairy Tales […]”, in Reading Time, Curtin, A.C.T.: Children’s Book Council of Australia, →OCLC, page 36:

     Here is a book tailored to suit a particular market (note its subtitle); customers who are looking for fairy stories in which females are the clever ones, taking all the initiative against foils of males who are a bit stupid, absent-minded or cowardly. In these six short tales we are presented with Princes Stupid and Princesses Charming, for a change.

   • 1999 November 4, Hedy P. Grant, “You Want a Whole House?”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 February 2011:

     As a divorced woman who purchased her own home prior to her marriage, and as a former divorce attorney, I urge single women to protect their financial interest in their houses prior to welcoming a subsequently acquired Prince or Princess Charming who may demand a piece of the house upon termination of the relationship.

   • 2009 January 12, Lisa Belkin, “Are Fairytales Too Scary for Children?”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 January 2009:

     A 2003 study out of Purdue University,^[sic] analyzed how gender was portrayed in 168 Brother’s^[sic] Grimm fairytales. The short answer: not well. Longer answer: these stories give the message that unattractive people are evil, women can get by on their beauty, and you never see Princess Charming swooping in to rescue the Prince.

   • 2009 May, Nika C. Beamon, “Princess Charming: With Author Deborah Gregory”, in I Didn’t Work This Hard Just to Get Married: Successful Single Black Women Speak Out, Chicago, Ill.: Lawrence Hill Books, →ISBN, part 1 (Single in the Spotlight), page 16:

     Constantly working on improving her self-worth and being willing to walk away from the wrong relationships have allowed Gregory to find her inner Cheetah Girl: “grown power” to be a woman who is fierce, tough, and still vulnerable—all qualities she hopes to inspire in the next generation of ethnic women through her writings so they can be their own “Princesses Charming.”

   • 2009 September 15, Karen Salmansohn, “Be the Change You Want to Date”, in Prince Harming Syndrome: Break Bad Relationship Patterns for Good—5 Essentials for Finding True Love (and They’re Not What You Think!), Long Island City, N.Y.: QNY, →ISBN, page 120:

     And good souls—even Princess Charmings and Prince Charmings—will feel anger. The goal is to feel anger rightly—in this MEAN ZONE!

   • 2009 October 16, John Anderson, “Back to the Boondocks, Defiantly”, in The New York Times‎^[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 May 2012:

     As Cinderellas go, he [Troy Duffy] was the type who would smash the glass slipper and kick Princess Charming down the stairs.

   • 2012 March 15, Philip Galanes, “Silence Doesn’t Fly Here”, in The New York Times‎^[5], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 March 2012:

     Unless your name is Snow White, waiting around for Prince (or Princess) Charming to save you from wicked stepmothers and fat seatmates is a lousy strategy.