A princess in a crown sits on a round rug with an open book, and a puppy sleeps curled up beside her. There is a lot going on in the room — the moon and stars through the window, the curtain, the lamp on the side table, the bed — so the page holds a child’s attention far longer than a single figure on a blank background would. Free to download and print.
They did. Royal children were generally taught at home by private tutors instead of being sent to school, and their lessons ran to reading, writing, foreign languages, music and history. Elizabeth I of England was taught by the scholar Roger Ascham and could read Latin, Greek, French and Italian.
👑 Why do crowns sparkle?
Crowns are set with polished stones such as rubies, sapphires, pearls and diamonds. A cut stone bends and throws light back out through its facets, so it flashes as the wearer moves. Stones like these were chosen precisely because they were rare and hard to obtain — that scarcity is what turned a crown into a mark of rank.
🐶Why is there a puppy with the princess?
Small lap dogs were kept at European courts for centuries and turn up in a great many royal portraits — a fashion rather than a rule, but a very common one. Dogs bred for company rather than for hunting or herding are still called companion dogs today.
