We are all ah struck by the childhood fairytales we are told as children. It is the beginning of tales of good vs evil, the wicked step-mother, the beautiful princess, the love story that always ends happily.

The other day I was watching a show & they mentioned how the story of Snow White truly came to be. We all thought it was the whimsical tale of the Grimm Brothers, BUT historians have found evidence there seems to have been real characters–a beautiful princess, a castle, evil step-mother and seven dwarfs.  What? you say! My sentiments exactly, so I thought I would put together some real life fairytale stories for your enjoyment. The first of course…Snow White.

Maria Sophia Margaretha Catharina von Erthal, to be known as Maria from here on out. Born in 1729, Maria grew up in a castle in Lohr, Germany. The castle is a museum today, and if you visit, you’ll be able to look into a certain famous mirror. It’s believed that Maria’s father, Prince Philipp Christoph von Erthal, gave the looking glass to his second wife as a gift. Sounding a little familiar? Maria’s outlook under her stepmother wasn’t quite so bleak – there was no huntsman seeking internal organs for proof of Maria’s death – but scholars think it wasn’t an easy existence. “Presumably the hard reality of life for Maria Sophia under this woman was recast as a fairy story by the Brothers Grimm,” Dr. Karlheinz Bartels, a Snow White scholar, has said. Oh, and Maria’s story boasts “dwarves” in a fashion similar to Margarethe’s: it’s said that only smaller-statured men were able to fit in the nearby mine tunnels of Bieber. -Mental Floss.com

One additional, interesting note…the mirror that was gifted to the step-mother said, Amour Propre or “Self-Love” The mirror was likely a gift from Philipp Christoph to Claudia Elisabeth. It was a product of the Lohr Mirror Manufacture (Kurmainzische Spiegelmanufaktur). The mirror “talked” predominantly in aphorisms. The upper right corner of “The Talking Mirror” contains a clear reference to self-love (Amour Propre). Moreover, mirrors from Lohr were so elaborately worked that they were accorded the reputation of “always speaking the truth”. They became a favorite gift at European crown and aristocratic courts.^{[4] -Wikpedia}

Rapunzel

Rapunzel draws upon an early Christian story. In the third century A.D. a prosperous pagan merchant, living in Asia Minor, so adored his beautiful daughter he forbade her to have suitors. Accordingly he locked her in a tower when he traveled. -huff

Princess Grace Kelly

She seemed to have it all, her dreams of acting came true and she was at the highest point of her career & the highest paid & most respected actress. Then a Prince came along and swept her off her feet. The dated and their courtship was depicted as a fairytale romance. They married after a year. She saw a deeper calling for her life and gave up all the glam and fame to become the Princess of Monaco. And with any fairytale there is tragedy…in 1982, Princess Grace and her young daughter were in a car accident. Princess Grace was in a coma for 24 hours before passing away.

True True Loves Kiss

But perhaps true love’s kiss really can do the trick. In 2009, a woman in England suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma. She began to stir two weeks later only when her husband pleaded her for a kiss— she apparently obliged by turning her head and puckering up, according to the Daily Mail. -Live Science

Well, I hope that was a fun read into the real stories of our beloved fairytales.

Have a beautiful day. -H