Free Perfect Princess by Meg Cabot Page A

effort.
    Perhaps most horrifying of all, during the height of the war, the princesses were forced to bathe in a maximum of only four inches of tepid water, and only once daily. I have it on certain
authority that their mother put tape inside the tub to indicate the level the water was not to exceed. Such privations are doubtless why the two princesses grew into such responsible and respectable women, well capable of bearing the aristocratic mantle thrust upon them so early in life.
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    [That’s nothing. During water shortages in the summer time here in NYC, the mayor’s office issues directives about how often you are supposed to flush the toilet. Having to endure something like that is what I call character building. In fact, I might even be scarred for life.]
    Mia’s Random Act of Princess:

    Be like Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret: Grow a Victory garden! You don’t need a yard to do it, either. Plant basil and parsley seeds in cups of soil and place them on your windowsill. Snip off leaves when they are grown to add to salads, pasta dishes, even pizzas! This way, if an invading force ever enters YOUR city and supply lines to your local grocery store are cut off, you’ll still have the ability to make tasty treats for your friends.
    ALICE, PRINCESS ANDREW OF GREECE

    Perhaps best known as the mother of Prince Philip, the royal consort of Queen Elizabeth II of England, Alice was a dear friend who ministered to the sick in Greek hospitals and soup kitchens, and who sheltered a Jewish family during the Holocaust (for which she was posthumously given the title Righteous among the Nations, an honor Oskar Schindler also received). A gracious lady and superlative hostess, Alice was everything one would expect in someone with the title Her Royal Highness.
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    [Whatever! My dad gave me the real scoop on Princess Alice: When Czar Nicholas II of Russia got a little too carried away, pelting Alice with rice at her 1903 wedding to Prince Andrew, she got him to cut it out by grabbing a shoe and whacking him on the head with it a few times. Way to go, Alice!]

    Mia’s Random Act of Princess:
    Be like Alice: Install a dartboard on the back of your bedroom door. During your spare moments from homework and good works among the poor, practice your hand-eye coordination. You never know when good aim might come in handy.
    WU ZETIAN

    For nearly a century during the Tang Dynasty, though hardly anyone seems to know it, a woman was emperor of China. Her name was Wu Zetian, and she rose well above her birth rank, which was that of a lowly peasant, by becoming a princess upon marrying the emperor’s son. After her husband, who soon inherited the throne, suffered a stroke, Princess Wu stepped in and assumed the administrative duties of governance, eventually being named empress.
    By all reports Empress Wu was a benevolent and kind ruler, doing much to elevate the status of women in Chinese society— particularly women belonging to her own family. Empress Wu also siphoned money away from the military and spent it on education reform, and she lowered taxes, an act that rarely makes a regent unpopular with her people.
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    [In Genovia, there are no taxes. That’s because the amount of money the tourists lose gambling in Genovian casinos every year exceeds the gross national debt by several hundred million. Gambling can be very addictive, you know, which is why, when I take over the throne, I intend to offer Gamblers Anonymous meetings right in the palace. Only don’t tell Grandmère.]
    Mia’s Random Act of Princess:
    Be like Wu: Join your student council. Vote for more spending on arts and sciences than on athletics, except for the girls’ teams. When male student council members accuse you of being partisan, say, “What’s your point?”
    ANASTASIA

    The youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, Anastasia was a lively and pretty girl, who lived happily with her parents and older