This is a short essay that I wrote about a year ago after having finished a re-read of AFfC. I had Dorne on the brain. When reading, I couldn’t help but make this linguistic connection. So with a spattering of research, here it is.
Little Princesses
GRRM refers to Dornish princesses (or at least princesses in Dorne) as “little princess” 13 times between AFFC and ADwD. The text makes 10 references to Arianne (possibly 11), and 3 times to Myrcella (1 ambiguous mention might refer to Arianne). There are also 2 mentions in earlier books of Rhaenys, Elia’s daughter. There are also many scattered mentions referring to each of these characters as “little” (with only an indirect connection to the word princess somewhere in the paragraph). The obvious correlation is that there is something Dornish about little princesses.
I can’t help but connect this to how “Willem Darry” addresses Dany using the same exact language, twice in her POVs. This of course dovetails conveniently with the lemongate theory that Dany’s early life was spent at a house with a red door, most likely in Dorne. This also follows the larger pattern of lemongate evidence being subtle in the first 3 books, with much more direct “hit you over the head with it” evidence in the latest 2 published books. I am looking forward to seeing where out author goes with this pattern (or whether this is a pattern at all) in the the next book.
I must note that there is one other mention of the phrase in our story (after all those mentioned above), where Jon thinks it about Shireen late in ADwD. There is nothing Dornish about Shireen, but maybe there is something Dornish about Jon? More on this later.
The Evidence
This phrase is first introduced to us by Dany in her first POV, connecting the phrase to her:
She remembered Ser Willem dimly, a great grey bear of a man, half-blind, roaring and bellowing orders from his sickbed. The servants had lived in terror of him, but he had always been kind to Dany. He called her “Little Princess” and sometimes “My Lady,” and his hands were soft as old leather.
Eddard (A Game of Thrones – Eddard XII) connects it to the children of Rheagar and the Dornish princess, Elia Martell, late in that same book:
Yet last night he had dreamt of Rhaegar’s children. Lord Tywin had laid the bodies beneath the Iron Throne, wrapped in the crimson cloaks of his house guard. That was clever of him; the blood did not show so badly against the red cloth. The little princess had been barefoot, still dressed in her bed gown, and the boy … the boy … – A Game of Thrones – Eddard XII
So even at the beginning of that book GRRM had planted a seed, a lemon seed if you will. It begins to sprout in A Clash of Kings in the house of the undying where Dany (Daenerys IV) is reminded of Darry:
No sooner had she thought it than old Ser Willem came into the room, leaning heavily on his stick. “Little princess, there you are,” he said in his gruff kind voice. “Come,” he said, “come to me, my lady, you’re home now, you’re safe now.”
In her next POV chapter, Dany makes a direct reference to Rhaenys:
“I remember,” Dany said sadly. “They murdered Rhaegar’s daughter as well, the little princess. Rhaenys, she was named, like Aegon’s sister. There was no Visenya, but he said the dragon has three heads. What is the song of ice and fire?”
(Jorah) “It’s no song I’ve ever heard.”
At this point, our author has tied both Targaryen princesses to the term Little Princess. Up until the end of ASoS, there would be no reason to question this, four mentions about two princesses. Not enough for much of a pattern, but if there is a pattern, it would seem to be about Targaryens, which is the link between the two.
We must also note that there are two other princesses in the story at this time, Myrcella and Shireen. At this point, neither is mentioned as a “little Princess” even though the phrase fits them exactly. Is there a reason for this? Or is it just random chance?
The Dornish Connection
The mentions multiply in Feast/Dance, bearing fruit in the case of Myrcella and Arianne. Aero Hotah uses it twice in the Captain of Guards chapter, both to refer to Arianne Martell:
My little princess. The captain had missed her sorely.
And:
As my prince commands.” His heart was troubled. My little princess will mislike this. “What of Sarella? She is a woman grown, almost twenty.”
Note: He also refers to Arrianne and to Myrcella as little several times without the attached noun.
Then it comes up twice in the Soiled Knight, once by Arys Oakheart:
[…] Myrcella had taken to Dornish food as quick as she had to her Dornish prince, and from time to time Ser Arys would try a dish or two to please her. The food seared his mouth and made him gasp for wine, and burned even worse coming out than it did going in. His little princess loved it, though.
and again by Arianne:
“Backwards,” she suggested. “Once you don your robes, no one will see the tear. Perhaps your little princess will sew it up for you. Or shall I send a new one to the Water Gardens?”
It’s worth noting that Ser Arys’s quote seems to denote Myrcella, but could possibly refer to Arrianne. In the chapter, Elia’s daughter Rhaenys is also discussed as “little”, as well as Myrcella. It’s also worth noting that Cersei refers to Rhaenys as little as well.
Then in the Queenmaker, Arrianne refers to Mycella:
Her Dornishmen covered their faces as she did, and Spotted Sylva helped veil the little princess from the sun, but Ser Arys stayed stubborn. Before long the sweat was running down his face, and his cheeks had taken on a rosy blush. …
And Areo refers to Arrianne at chapter’s end:
Areo Hotah took it from the man and frowned at it. “The prince said I must bring you back to Sunspear,” he announced. His cheeks and brow were freckled with the blood of Arys Oakheart. “I am sorry, little princess.”
Later, in “The Princess In The Tower” (A Feast for Crows) he refers to her the same way, before her imprisonment:
“What you meant does not matter, little princess,” Areo Hotah said. “Only what you did.” His countenance was stony. “I am sorry. It is for my prince to command, for Hotah to obey.”
and after:
Then came a day when a rough hand woke her, shaking her by the shoulder. “Little princess,” said a voice she’d known from childhood. “Up and dress. The prince has called for you.” Areo Hotah stood over her, her old friend and protector. He was talking to her. Arianne smiled sleepily. It was good to see that seamed, scarred face, and hear his gruff, deep voice and thick Norvoshi accent. “What did you do with Cedra?”
Later Arianne uses it to refer to Myrcella again:
“No,” Arianne said. “Say that he died defending his little princess. Tell Ser Balon that Darkstar tried to kill her and Ser Arys stepped between them and saved her life.” That was how the white knights of the Kingsguard were supposed to die, giving up their own lives for those that they had sworn to protect. […]
Finally, Areo Hotah refers to Arianne 4 times in this way in The Watcher, 1):
Tyene declined Ricasso’s toast with a murmur and Lady Nym with a flick of a hand. Obara let them fill her cup to the brim, then upended it to spill the red wine on the floor. When a serving girl knelt to wipe up the spilled wine, Obara left the hall. After a moment Princess Arianne excused herself and went after her. Obara would never turn her rage on the little princess, Hotah knew. They are cousins, and she loves her well.
2):
Princess Arianne returned in time for the stuffed peppers. My little princess, Hotah thought, but Arianne was a woman now. The scarlet silks she wore left no doubt of that. Of late she had changed in other ways as well. Her plot to crown Myrcella had been betrayed and smashed, her white knight had perished bloodily at Hotah’s hand, and she herself had been confined to the Spear Tower, condemned to solitude and silence. […]
3):
“Darkstar did it,” his little princess said. “He tried to kill Princess Myrcella too. As she will tell Ser Balon.”
4:)
The little princess smiled. “Three Oberyns, with teats.”
Note how the author also weaves Myrcella into the paragraph maintaining the connection between the two of them as little princesses. Note that every mention os Myrcella this way was in Dorne. Same for Arrianne, who is Dornish. Same for Rhaenys who is half-Dornish through her mother, and has some small bit of Dornish blood (~6%) via Dyanna Dayne.
For the three of them, there is something very Dornish about the phrase little Princess. Dany seemingly would not fit, and Shireen is not yet mentioned as a Little Princess. Note that both young ladies would have that same small bit of the blood of Dyanna Dayne in their blood. I think it would be a bit of a copout to try to use this as a Dornish connection. I think there is more. For Dany, she spent a few of her earliest years in Dorne, I think. As for Shireen…
An Exception?
Finally, in A Dance with Dragons – Jon XI, Jon thinks about Shireen as a little Princess, too.
The bells on his hat rang. “Away, away,” the fool sang. “Come with me beneath the sea, away, away, away.” He took the little princess by one hand and drew her from the room, skipping.
The only thing Dornish about Shireen is that same small bit of Dyanna Dayne in her blood. This would be a relatively weak Dornish connection, and I don’t buy that this makes it fit the pattern I see with Myrcella, Arianne and Rhaenys.
Perhaps this means that the pattern I see is meaningless, that all the other mentions discussed before are just coincidental, and my analysis and conclusions are debunked. Maybe, except it’s also possible that this is the coincidence / exception that proves the rule. You see, I can’t help wonder if this is not just another clue in and of itself. Could it be a clue about Jon having Dornish heritage, not Shireen? With R+L=J, he would also have that tiny bit of Dornish blood, but I’d like a stronger connection. Once upon a time I wondered if his mother was Ashara Dayne, but I doubt that now, given GRRM’s comments on the identity of his mother. However, there is still a terrific connection to Dorne for Jon. Jon, if born at the Tower of Joy, is wholly Dornish in that he was born there!
So, when Jon calls Shireen Baratheon a little princess, there is something very Dornish about that, especially because she was never called that before she met him. He may even be the first “Dornishman” that she’d encountered in the series.
Conclusion
So, in the early volumes, the author tied Dany and half-Dornish Rhaenys to the the phrase “Little Princess.” Then in ADwD and AFfC, he gives overwhelming evidence that there is a Dornish connection to the phrase “Little Princess” with Arianne and Myrcella being called such numerous times. The possible exception, when Jon uses the phrase in those volumes, is probably not an exception at all, because Jon was born in Dorne.
I think the implication of this is that when “Willem Darry” called her this in the the early volumes, he and Dany were in Dorne. My conclusion is that this is one more small piece of evidence that Dany started life in a house with a red door in Dorne as suggested in the popular theory known as lemongate.
PS: One preemptive thing about lemons:
Please don’t respond with the notion that the lemon tree was at the Sealord’s palace. For lemons to grow in Braavos, it would have to be under a green house or in a potted plant, not outside the window of a house.
Lemon trees (Citrus limon) love warm temperatures. The trees are thought to have originated in India and are usually grown in warmer climates, such as in Italy, California and Florida. If you live in an area that gets frost each year, you can grow a lemon tree in a container. The tree can spend the spring and summer outside but should be brought in when the temperatures drop.
Braavos is not subtropical. It is rainy and cold and foggy, with sporadic spats of freezing rain… more like Great Britain. The foggy weather is especially damning because lemons need “full sun” to grow.
Citrus are not hardy in Britain but can be grown in pots outdoors in summer and brought inside for winter. Of all citrus, most gardeners grow lemons; kumquats are the most cold tolerant; others, like limes and grapefruits, need more warmth.
When Dany was young, Braavos had just come out of a long winter, this tree would not have survived at this latitude. There is no reason to believe the one outside her window was a potted plant ot in a greenhouse. Besides, if you read the link to the lemongate theory, there is loads more evidence on this.
PPS: The ideas of Others
Well, other people, not the others. Here are a few things that came to light in discussion of this idea.
u/Rhoynefahrt contrasted my findings with all the mentions of “little prince” as below:
Sansa referring to Tommen
Jaime referring to Viserys
NW members referring to Dalla’s son
Gilly referring to Dalla’s son (but really her own)
Sam referring to Dalla’s son
Melisandre referring to Dalla’s son
The author of the pink letter referring to Dalla’s son
There doesn’t seem to be a pattern for that phrase. unless someone wants to try to use it to support the idea that Mance = Arthur. In that, nothing about Viserys or Tommen would be Dornish, so the pattern would not be very strong evidence.
u/markg171 mentioned that Ser Willem never once calls Dany by name, which is the type of thing you might do while in hiding (avoiding first names). The other thing he calls her, “my lady,” is also used alot by Areo Hotah to describe the sand snakes and others. This constitutes another (weaker) connection to Dorne.
u/WhiteRavenLegion mentioned the common lemongate argument about this man having “soft as old leather hands” that a master-at-arms would not have.
I noticed another corollary to both these observations. In the 2 paragraphs where Dany (quotes above from AGoT and ACoK) remembers “Ser Willem” calling her “little princess” and “my lady” and where she recalls his hands, the last name “Darry” is not mentioned. All of these pieces of evidence together strengthen the case that this man is probably not the real Willem Darry, the master-at-arms who fled the red keep to dragonstone and then fled Dragonstone with Viserys and “the babe” (Prologue – ACoK). I’ll end with the following suggestion about the possible true identity of the man at the house with the red door, from u/IllyrioMoParties:
“Madness: “Willem Darry” is Willam Dustin, left lame and half-blind by the fight at the Tower of Joy.
Thanks to those whose ideas I capitalize on here, such as u/PrestonJacobs u/markg171 u/M_Tootles u/canitryto and u/hollowadivision … All attribution to them for their work is implied. If you have a good link I should point to for attribution; please let me know and I’ll edit this post.
TL;DR There is something very Dornish about the term “Little Princess.” The author only uses it for Daenerys and Rhaenys Targaryen (who had a Dornish mother) early in the story, but in the recent releases, it is scattered all across the pages of the Dornish chapters. My conclusion is that this is one more strong piece of evidence to support the idea of Dany having started life in a house with a red door with a lemon tree outside its window, in Dorne.
The Green Bard 