Prince Charming

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English

Prince Charming of Sleeping Beauty, a print drawing from the late-19th-century book Mein erstes Märchenbuch, published in Stuttgart, Germany

Etymology

Calque of French Roi Charmant (“Charming King”).

Noun

Prince Charming (plural Prince Charmings or Princes Charming)

  1. A fictional heroic prince in various fairy-tales.
    • 1920, “King Bizarre And Prince Charming”, in Mary L. Booth, transl., Laboulaye's Fairy Book‎:
      No one could have helped being won by his smile and the truly royal manner in which he saluted the crowd in passing when he was in good humor. For this reason, the voice of the people, which is never mistaken, had christened him Prince Charming, and his name always clung to him.
  2. (by extension) A heterosexual woman's prototypical ideal romantic partner, especially but not necessarily if he embodies common characteristics of the fictional princes, such as being courageous or chivalrous.
    She's still unmarried because she is waiting for her Prince Charming... and he may not exist.
    • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter V, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:
      She did not listen. She was free in her prison of passion. Her prince, Prince Charming, was with her.
    • 1909 September, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “The Prince Comes Back to the Enchanted Palace”, in Anne of Avonlea, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, →OCLC, pages 341–342:
      However, I’ll tell you this much . . . and if nothing comes of it you must never breathe a word about it to a living soul. You see, Prince Charming is coming to-night.
    • 1979, “Street Life”, Will Jennings (lyrics), performed by The Crusaders ft. Randy Crawford:
      There's always love for sale / A grown up fairy tale / Prince charming always smiles / Behind a silver spoon
    • 2023 April 1, Maddie Thomas, “Even if you’re ‘on the apps’, it feels pretty hard to meet people these days”, in The Guardian‎:
      Friends say we app sceptics will download them at a certain age out of desperation. But for now, follow the sound advice of mums and mentors: there’s no rush, relationships don’t define you and you must keep your standards high. Just not Prince Charming high. Carrie Bradshaw will tell you that’s nothing but a fairytale.

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Further reading

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