"But, when you live in a castle, everything's done for you. All the time -- They dress you, they feed you, drive you, brush your teeth. I admit it was a charmed life, until the day my parents cut me off and I realized... I don't know how to doanything." —Naveen,The Princess and the Frog

The White Prince is a character who has lived a lifesheltered from the everyday trivialities which the lower classes have to contend with. In this way he is pure and untainted by the hardships of the outside world.

This results in a certain naivety and ignorance, despite the numerous tutors he's no doubt had all his life. When he is finally exposed to the outside world, it becomes apparent that the character is out of his depth. He doesn't realize how difficult and dangerous life outside his palace really is, and as a result he is aHorrible Judge of Character, easily duped by conmen and stolen from by thieves. Often he thinks he can talk his way out of confrontations, or throw money at any problem, and generally not recognizing, at least initially, that bad things could actually happen tohim out in the real world. He will often be puzzled and even intrigued by the goings on of everyday life, resulting inMundane Object Amazement. Sometimes the irony will be taken further asThe White Prince proclaims himself to be an expert, having studied the lower class from textbooks, only to be proved very wrong. Often he has no idea how to do common, everyday activities and is thus rather helpless if he finds himself on his own. He may also be unaware of any suffering his people are really going through in his kingdom until he comes face to face with it.

These characters tend to fall into three main types: a plucky-type with child-like innocence and kindness, a silly and cowardly-type who is treated like a joke, and snobby and superior type that can be cruel. Most of the types have a good chance to mature into the honourable and melancholicWise Prince or the practical and down-to-EarthPrincely Young Man during their adventures, though the cowardly and snobbish types have just as much of a chance to turn their back on the real world andshut themselves back in their palace, if they can.

This trope can include any character, not just princes, who are sheltered in this way. See alsoUpper Class Twit,Spoiled Brat andSpoiled Sweet. CompareSacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training.

Anime and Manga

• Mendou fromUrusei Yatsuraand Kuno fromRanma 1/2 are the pompous and mean-spirited buffoon kind.
• Most of theOuran High School Host Club but especially Tamaki, the president of the club. He is the clownish charmer type (especially the "buffoon" part; his heart is usually in the right place, but his brain is another story), who is actually so fascinated by the middle-class customs of Haruhi that he plans activities and "excursions" to educate themselves about the lifestyles of the "commoners" to make Haruhi feel more comfortable—she doesn't.
  • Mori would be the composed type, mostly because of his protectiveness of Hani and keeping his mouth shut.
    • Kyouya would give him a run for his money. He's actually involved in his family business, so he understands how the world works. He doesn't consider ordinary people to be quaint or insignificant, but he does regard them as less important than successful people.
• Prince Chagum fromSeirei no Moribito is of the young and dignified sort. He gets used to life as a commoner and enjoys it, since the series very much avoidsThe Dung Ages and thinksRousseau Was Right. Later he seems to develope toThe Wise Prince.
• Yuki ofFruits Basket has shades of the composed type, and is nicknamed "Prince Yuki" by the girls at his school. Of course, he's a very different person behind the facade he puts up for most of his classmates.
• Deconstructed inAshita no Nadja, where Nadja's love interest Francis Harcourt poses as your typical White Princewith a philanthropic edge, but deep down has severe self-esteem issues that become obvious once his idealism clashes with reality.
• The Prince inRune Soldier Louie - Though befitting the fantasy setting he was only naive and shocked when he came across mercenary behaviour and darker aspects of humanity. In other aspects he was quite educated and willing to give anything a try.
• Touga inGravion fits the composed variety, and forms anOdd Friendship with the largely mannerless Eiji often driven by his quiet curiosity about the "real world" (he's not a literal prince, but hedid grow up in a castle ...).
• Romeo Candorebanto Montague fromRomeo X Juliet, in addition to being theMad Dictator's Handsome Son. His best friend Benvolio di Frescobaldi also shows some White Prince traits, but once his family is stripped of its noble status, he adapts to peasant life very quickly and happily.
• Prince Canute ofVinland Saga starts out as the innocent sheltered type, with a few minor subversion in that he is surprisingly well educated in peasant activities, then upgrades to the cool as sin, composedBadass version.
  • That's because the real-life Norse nobility differed from commoners mostly in that they usually ate better and called the shots at war. Otherwisethey weren't that much different.
• The F4 in all incarnations ofHana Yori Dango. Domyoji is of the arrogant meanie variety (at least initially) and Rui is the reserved type. Sojiroh and Akira are certainly bothvery charming, but seem much more aware of the lower classes, at least intellectually, than the other two.
• Yuna Roma Seiran fromMobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny proves why letting one of these gain power can be a really, really, bad idea. Luckily eventually theyDropped A GOUF On Him.
• InNaoko Takeuchi's workThe Cherry Project, Tsuzuki fits this well. He's been trained as a professional figure skater since he was young, and was born to rich parents who really spoiled him. He had recently cut himself off because he felt that he wasn't really living life normally.
• Ninzaburo Shiratori fromDetective Conan is this and a rather competent policeman. While not a bad person, he can be kind of anUpper Class Twit when at his very worse, switching to a borderlinePrincely Young Man when at his best.
  • Also his former classmate Fumimaro Ayanokouji, who actuallyis fromRoyal Blood according to Satou.
  • Sonoko's soon-to-be brother-in-law, Yuzo Tomizawa, is of the naive kind. So were his brothers Tatsuji and Taichi.Until one of them killed their father
  • And predictably, bothOjous andWhite Princes are among either the victims or the culprits rather frequently.
• InThe Secret Agreement, Yuuichi regards Iori to be this because of his lack of worldliness, and while he doesn't like that Iori is gettingmarried he outright states that the marriage will be a good thing for Iori since he doubts Iori could live a poor life with him.

Film

• Prince Henry fromEver After is bored by the idea of peasants until he meets Danielle, who actually is a peasant. He takes his servants for granted because they're servants, it's what they do.
• Similar to Yuna Roma Seiran above, Commodus inGladiator is also a proof against the idea of letting oneWhite Prince become the ruler of a country.
• The prince fromComing to America had never so much as gone to the bathroom by himself before he left home.

Literature

• Prince Edward Tudor (later King Edward VI), inMark Twain'sThe Prince and the Pauper.
• Prince Jen fromLloyd Alexander'sThe Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen. Upon embarking on a pilgrimage to a mystical kingdom, he sniffs the air and asks his servant what that wonderful, invigorating smell is. Hissignificantly more wordly-wise servant hazards a guess that the odors of rotten food, body odor, the occasional goat, and the distinct lack of cash comprise "The Essence of Misery."
• Another Lloyd Alexander example, this timeThe Chronicles of Prydain introduces us to Prince Rhun, who is the "clownish buffoon" type, easy on the "charming." He irks Taran, especially forbeing engaged toPrincess Eilonwy.Rhun gets better, and he dies a hero's death.
• Prince Daren in TheHeralds of Valdemar series starts off this way. He becomes more ofThe Wise Prince later in the series.
• Prince Kerish inThe Seven Citadels starts out this way, even putting the lives of his men in jeopardy due to his over-confidence. Hegrows out of it, though.
• Prince Lir inThe Last Unicorn. As he attempts to earn the attention of the Lady Amalthea (the unicorn in the form of a young woman) he shakes off his sheltered uselessness and becomes far more interesting.
• Prince Edward, aka Ned, in Mickey Zucker Reichert'sThe Legend of Nightfall. He truly believes in the ideals of chivalry andnoblesse oblige, he despises slavery, and he'll risk his neck to save others' lives. His idealism is only matched by his naivety...which is why his father the King takes the extreme step of secretly blackmailing (and spell-binding) a ruthless thief/assassin to be his squire (i.e., protect him) when the young royal is sent out to get some real world experience for a change. (The ultimateFantasy AdventureOdd Couple Buddy StoryWunza Plot—and it totallyworks.)
• Galad Damodred fromThe Wheel of Time borders between the "arrogant" and "reserved" varieties, with a verynaïve view of the world, but isanything but a buffoon.Later shows signs of turning away from the path of theKnight Templar and shifting towardsThe Wise Prince.
• Bertie fromJeeves and Wooster survives thanks to the efforts of Jeeves, who serves as valet,Parental Substitute andLiving Emotional Crutch. When they get separated, cue theRich in Dollars, Poor In Sense plot.

Live Action TV

• Kamen Rider:
  • Sano Mitsuru fromKamen Rider Ryuki was thrown out and forced to get a day job. His rich father hoped it would build Mitsuru some character. It didn't.
  • Kamishiro Tsurugi fromKamen Rider Kabuto. If you're wondering which kind ofWhite Prince he is, consider that his personal motto is,"I am the man who will replace God and slash with a sword". He eventually discovers that his family coffers are more empty than he had ever imagined (as in, completely) and resolves to restore his family wealth whilst learning about the joys of "the common people", becoming much more quirky and likeable in the process.
  • Sieg fromKamen Rider Den-O, an arrogantImagin who claims that "the world revolves for [his] sake" and initially sees the DenLiner crew as his servants.Hanapunches some sense into him, though, and he warms up to the others a lot quicker. Bonus points for hispredominantly white color scheme.
• Green Wing plays this to great comedic effect when Guy attempts to convince Mac he is a man of the people and invents a friendship with a janitor who happens to be very good friends with Mac.
• Viserys Targaryen ofGame of Thrones may not becompletely helpless, but he is certainly arrogant, expecting everyone to march to his orders even while he's in exile. His father doesn't bother with people skills, and as a result he pisses off pretty much everyone he interacts with. Eventually he gets drunk andgravely offends Khal Drogo, paying for it with his life.
  • Joffrey Baratheon gives this impression, but since we haven't seen him outside the sheltered life of a prince we can't be entirely sure (yet). Still, he's an excellent demonstration of the bad things that can happen when the White Princeis crowned King; even his mother can't control him now.

Video Games

• Prince Enrique ofSkies of Arcadia, while living a sheltered life, is the highly intelligent, reserved type of prince and completely subverts the "naive, pompous idiot" part of the trope. He ultimately leaves his homeland with the pirates in hopes of trying to prove his mother's plans of conquest wrong. He later tries to return to Valua to personally convince Empress Teodora to protect her people, which appears naive on the surface, but when she refuses, he actually attempts to threaten her life when she won't see reason. He apparently was more than prepared for her to refuse him. Note that despite not being a naive idiot, the other air pirates tend to give him some light-hearted ribbing about his pampered life when he first joins up.
• Luke, the main character ofTales of the Abyss, starts out like this.
  • InTales of Vesperia, Estelle is a WhitePrincess. Technically she's anOjou, but her personality is more in line with this trope.
• Eliwood fromFire Emblem was a bit like this in the beginning. He grows intoThe Wise Prince later on.
  • Reyson fromFire Emblem: Path of Radiance is an aversion. While his title is "White Prince," he acts more like ajadedIce King
• Prince Peasley ofMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga comes off a bit like this at first glance-his arrogant mannerisms, cocky grin, and tendency to flick out his hair (which is so radiant it causes the entire screen to flash white) suggest a pampered jerkoff without the time of day for a couple lowly plumbers...but he's genuinely concerned about his people, competent at what he does and aware of his limitations, and in general a pretty nice, if businesslike, guy.
• In the short time the PC is around him, King Cailan fromDragon Age: Origins comes off as this, more clearly depending on dialogue. As a good example, if the City Elf tells Cailan he is from "One of your alienages, of course", Cailan actually growsexcited nearlybegging the PC to tell him what it's like there, stating his guards never let him near them, which seems to indicate quite a lack of knowledge and interest in 'commoner' ways.
  • Which can lead to a real awkward moment for the king where you proceed to bluntly state that your friends and family were raped and murdered by bigot nobles.
    • The actual statement is that YOU killed a Noble's Son (Vaughn) for raping your cousin (Shianni). Cailan is actually quite disturbed by somehting like that happening in the Alienage and it being kept from him, and vows to look into it when they return to Denerim... but we all know how that ended.
• InGolden Sun: Dark Dawn, Prince Amiti introduces himself with a mystical statement... and promptlyhas to have it explained to him thathe's a bastard (to be fair, he was raised under a cover story that he fully believed). However, hemakes it his goal to see the world and becomea wiser prince... whichtakes a while, since he also believes inBlack and White Morality for a good chunk of the game.

Web Original

• Phase, Ayla Goodkind of theWhateley Universe. Born into the richest family on earth, and used to having his own way all the time. When he turns into a mutant and gets kicked out of the family, he finds out he doesn't know how to doanything, including use a can opener or a microwave. He just about has a coronary seeing what a real grocery store is like.

Western Animation

• Lampshaded in an episode of the animatedThe Legend of Zelda—the episode was actually titled "The White Knight," and featured a blond heroic prince in pristine white garments who charmed Zelda and her father and made Link look like a buffoon by comparison. When Zelda was stolen by one of Ganon's minions, the so-called hero wouldn't go to her aid because he didn't want to get his clothes dirty.
• InThe Lion King, Simba was surprised to learn that there was more to being king than getting your way all the time.
• The Princess and the Frog's Prince Naveen, who provides the pithy quote at the top of this page. And yes, that means that the black princess marries awhite prince after all.
• While obviously not a prince, Mr. Pewtershmidt ofFamily Guy fit this perfectly when he lost all of his money and was forced to live with Peter. He became utterly useless, to the point that he literally couldn't figure out how towipe his own ass. Slight variation in that he's not necessarily confused by how the lower class lives as much as he just wants nothing to do with it.

Real Life

• Siddharta Gautama aka Buddha, as one of the kind, naive types, makes thisOlder Than Feudalism. He grew up in the palace sheltered from pretty much everything low and evil. When he first went intoReal Life (which was after he had married and fathered a son), and saw the existence of poverty, disease and death,he was so shocked that he left palace, wife and son in the night to become an ascetic monk. For the exciting conclusion, seeBuddhism.
  • This was apparently deliberate, as his father was given a prophecy that if he didn't experience suffering he would become a great king, while if he did he did he would become a (very poor) holy man. So his father tried to shelter him as much as he possibly could.
• Emperor Hirohito (or better said Showa, after his era) of Japan, who asked his people to "endure the unendurable" while he never missed a meal in his long life.
  • Obviously,every male in the Japanese Imperial Family is/was like this. Current Emperor Akihito isa more down to Earth version: he actually went to university, is a more or less well-known marine biologist, married aNon Royal Princess (current Empress Michiko) despitethe opposition of the Imperial Household, tried to project a less-divine and more-human image of the Imperial Family with diverse results, and after the Kanto Earthquakehe actually got out of the Imperial Palace to visit the damaged prefectures alongside his wife.
• Belgian singer Jacques Brel was this, coming from a very rich family in the banking business before he started his singing career.
• Britain's King Charles I ofThe House of Stuart who was taught by his father James I that Kings were "little gods on earth".
  • Subverted by King Charles II ofThe House of Stuart who was raised for a large part of his early life in Scotland, hiding from the roundheads that had usurped his father. After their puritanical reign the people of Englandasked him to take back his father's throne and he swiftly restored a number of rights to the common man that Oliver Cromwell had revoked. He even literallysaved Christmas after Cromwell made it punishable by death to celebrate.

• Trope
• Always Male
• Royalty and Nobility Tropes
• Characters As Device
• Princely Tropes
• An Index of Ladies and Gentlemen
• The White Prince
• Meaningful Titles