Fairy Tales From Around the World

The 12 Dancing Princesses

In Loving Memory of Jason David Frank (1973-2022) Rest in Peace.

Once upon a time, in a not-too-distant land, lived the wise King Randolph. The king had twelve beautiful daughters who loved to dance and sing and play. Sadly, the queen, the girl's mother, had died. Yet, the princesses were happy girls who loved their father very much.

But as time passed, the king began to think that his daughters were not growing up as young princesses should. He wondered why they were invited to balls in neighboring kingdoms or why no princes came to call at the palace. He decided to ask his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to come to the palace and help him care for the princesses.

The king began to tell his daughters about his plans at lunch the next day.

"Girls, I have been thinking..." began the king. But he didn't get any further. The butler had announced the arrival of the royal cobbler and the girls were rushing to the garden to see their new dancing shoes, forgetting in an instant that their father had been talking.

The princesses gathered eagerly around the young cobbler, Tommy Oliver, and his colorful talking bird, Felix.

Tommy began handing out beautiful pairs of shoes. Each pair was a different color specifically chosen for each princess.

"Do you have anything for me?" asked Kimberly Ann Hart, quietly.

Turning shyly to her, Tommy handed Kimberly the most beautiful pair of shoes the princess had ever seen.

"Wow!" gasped Kimberly.

"Come on, Kimberly," called Alexis, one of the twins. "Let's dance!"

The young cobbler watched the dancing princesses and let out a deep sigh. "I will never be able to dance with Princess Kimberly, Felix. I am just a cobbler and she is a princess!"

"Wait and see," squawked the bird. "Wait and see!"

The next week, the princess was summoned to the great hall to greet their cousin, Duchess Rowena.

"Welcome, Rowena," called the king. "Come and meet my daughters. May I present - Sara, Claire, Diana, Marie, Christina, Serena, Kimberly, Alexis, Alexa, and the triplets Stacy, Lacy, and Tracy."

Rowena took a long walk up and down the line of smiling girls.

"Well, I can see we have a lot of work to do," she said sternly. "But I don't suppose it will take me long to make proper princesses out of them."

Twelve pairs of eyes turned to their father, wondering what was going on. The old king blushed. "I tried to tell you all, but you were just too busy to listen. Duchess Rowena is going to be in charge of your upbringing now. She will teach you to behave like proper princesses."

Rowena was very quick to take control of palace life. She banned the girls from singing and dancing, made them wear horrible gray dresses that looked alike, and punished them if they didn't do as she said.

One day, Kimberly went to talk to her father. "Papa," she said hesitantly. "It's about cousin Rowena. She keeps changing everything. Can't we go back to how we were please?"

The king smiled at Kimberly. "Now, now," he said. "Rowena only wants what is best for you. She is staying!"

Very soon, King Randolph fell ill. The doctor came and looked at him, but as the days and weeks passed, he continued to grow weaker. Rowena stayed very close to the king's side, giving him cup after cup of soothing tea, but nothing seemed to make him any better. A sadness seemed to fall over the palace, as the princesses were only able to see their father for brief moments each day. They saw more and more of the wicked Rowena who watched everything they did very closely.