As a child I had a ladybird book telling the story of the Princess and the Pea. The detail of the illustrations has remained in my memory, although sadly, I don't have the original book anymore.

A prince is seeking a real princess and has almost given up when in the middle of a storm a young girl arrives at his castle's door, dripping wet and declaring that she is a real princess.Mother-in-law-to-be is not so sure, and prepares a test. She places a pea under an enormous pile of mattresses, enquiring in the morning if the princess has slept well. Her reply is that she has hardly slept at all because there was something hard and uncomfortable in the bed. Declared as a real princess the pair get married, 'amid great rejoicing' and presumably live happily ever after.

There are six images in this series (but I may do some more, as I enjoyed doing them so much)

Please click on the small thumbnail images to view the whole picture