Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

Have you had the picture perfect image of an elegant princess who lives happily ever after in your mind since childhood? Get ready for that image to be shattered! Princesses Behaving Badly introduces you to all of the forgotten and little-known princesses on history. How many Disney princess stories involve patriots, spies, murderers, and mothers? None. This books delves into all the dirty stories not suitable for Disney and bedtime stories.
Linda Rodriguez McRobbie does an amazing job show more researching and spinning the glorious and tragic tales of these princesses found throughout our history. Women have played second fiddle to men in the history books for too long. McRobbie features the strong women that history has lost and brushed aside. These women are victorious, vicious, angry, argumentative, laid low, and lascivious. They are depicted as they are, no ruffles. This book gives the reader intriguing stories of strong women in nice manageable portions. It is an easy book to carry around with you throughout your day and dive into on your breaks. show less

A princess is precious, pretty, petite, patient, plucky, occasionally petulant, wears pink or purple, and is nearly always perfect. She meets her Prince Charming and lives happily ever after. Everyone knows that. But life isn't so peachy for real princesses. The "princesses" in these pages range from warrior to punk to pretend. Some were raised in the same manner as their brothers and many tried to wield power in their own right. Some spent their last days as prisoners in bricked up show more rooms—about as far as you can get from that fairy tale ending.

Not surprisingly, Juana La Loca and Boudicca are included along with the familiar story of Caroline of Brunswick who was barred from attending the coronation of her husband George IV of England. There's also Franziska Schanzkowska a.k.a. Anna Anderson a.k.a. the Grand Duchess Anastasia, in reality a Polish factory worker, who convinced a number of people that she was the only Romanov to survive the Bolshevik Revolution. Other princesses are less well known such as Roxolana who rose from the harem of Suleiman to become his wife after she ruthlessly eliminated all her competition. Thirteenth century Mongol princess Khutulun who enjoyed wrestling was the inspiration for the story of Turandot. One "princess" is actually a recent murder victim, as yet unidentified, who was being passed off as 2600 year old Persian mummy.

It is interesting to see how these strong women were treated by history. Had they been docile and restricted themselves to distaff duties we never would have heard of them. (Remember, Anonymous was a woman.) Often we don't even know their real names or the details of their life or death and this holds true even for some of the more modern women. History often portrayed them as abnormally (read openly) sexual. As the author notes, "Take all that with a big grain of salt, though—the easiest way to slander a woman in any era is to call her a slut."

Rodriguez McRobbie writes in a light conversational style but does manage to convey a fair amount of information about each princess very succinctly. She can paint a telling picture with just a few words: "They partied with booze (her) and pills (him), and had a lot of sex. Just not always with each other."

I would have liked to have seen footnotes but a brief Bibliography points the way to additional information for the reader who wishes to learn more about these badass ladies. This isn't a serious history text but may be just right to read curled up with a cat and a cup of cocoa on a winter weekend while waiting for the weather to warm up. show less

For every princess who married the prince and lived happily ever after, there are scores of princesses who did not. In Princesses Behaving Badly, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie seeks to show just how cruel, and oftentimes dangerous, life as a princess can be. The stories presented do much to offset the fairy tale effect with these true-life tales of the manipulative, the power-hungry, the insane, as well as the weak, the lonely, and the powerless. There are plenty of heroines as well, those show more princesses who more than live up to their title.

Divided up into sections, each section has its own theme, into which all of the princesses mentioned have similar characteristics. Each of the princesses in the sections intersect the globe and cross history, proving once again that the more things change, the more things stay the same. The individual stories of the princesses are relatively short, getting right to the point by limiting the political, social, economic, and historical backdrop presented. Ms. Rodriguez McRobbie presents just enough of a backstory for readers to understand a particular princess’ situation. Given that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of books written about each and every one of these princesses, the fact that she is able to compact so much into a fairly short book is quite the feat.

There is a massive amount of historical information Ms. Rodriguez McRobbie presents throughout her stories, but at no point in time does the narrative drag, nor is it confusing or incomplete. One could use Princesses Behaving Badly as a jumping off point for further research into any one of the princesses she mentions, but her stories are so thorough that one can simply read them and feel confident that she hit on the main points. More importantly, Princesses Behaving Badly is a fair portrayal of these historical women. She seeks not to vilify or condemn these women for their actions but rather celebrates them for their own strengths and weaknesses, using up-to-date research to further her argument. She does not seek to repeat the sordid histories but aims for a just picture of each woman, whether that woman bathed in the blood of virgins, slaughtered thousands as revenge for the death of her husband, used her son’s minority status to gain power and rule the country, fight for independence, or even just survive her family’s political ambitions.

Cassandra Campbell does a fantastic job narrating Princesses Behaving Badly. There is many a wry note of sarcasm written into the narrative, and Ms. Campbell captures it perfectly without overdoing it. Her voice is pleasant, her phrasing is perfect, and she is able to add a bit of personality to what could have been a dry reading. Her performance is such that it is as if Ms. Rodriguez McRobbie wrote the book with her audiobook performance in mind.

In an effort to disprove the Disney way of thinking, Princesses Behaving Badly explores the not-so-happily-ever-after situations of princesses across the globe and throughout history. This thoroughly-researched tale is fascinating in the stories it tells, enthralling in its scope, and enormously enjoyable. Ms. Rodriguez McRobbie has fun with her subject matter, adding levity in the more gruesome situations but maintaining the right amount of gravitas when the situation warrants it. Meant to entertain as well as educate, Princesses Behaving Badly shows that those Disney princesses are pale imitations of their real-life counterparts. show less

I received this book for free from the publisher (Quirk Books).

This was such a fascinating read. It contains mini-biographies of different real life royals (princesses, empresses, sultanas etc.) from around the globe, and throughout history. Some of the princesses are well heard of, but most are relatively unknown.

I really liked how the book showed how complex and flawed these women were. They’re not necessarily depicted as being “good” or “bad”, just human. The context of their show more worlds were also given, which helped you understand their actions better. It also showed how being a princess was not as glamorous as one may think.

Another thing I liked was how the book tried to separate fact from fiction. Historiography is complicated, especially when it comes to telling women’s stories. Women are vilified so much more easily and quickly than men. I appreciated how the author explained what was probably true and what was a myth.

However, the one thing that I didn’t agree with was the author’s view on Disney princesses (it was a negative one). It was only briefly mentioned in the introduction so it wasn’t a huge deal to me.

The biographies themselves were all very entertaining. The most interesting aspects of their lives were highlighted.

Overall, this is a fun read for princess lovers. show less