King Thrushbeard

A beautiful but proud princess mocked every suitor presented to her, finding cruel fault with each one — too fat, too thin, too pale, too tall — until she cruelly nicknamed one kind king "Thrushbeard" for his slightly crooked chin, insulting him openly before the entire court.

Her furious father, embarrassed by her endless arrogance, swore he would marry her to the very next beggar who came to the palace door, regardless of station. True to his word, when a wandering musician arrived soon after, the king married her to him immediately, and she was cast out of the palace to live as a poor woman's wife.

Reduced to hard, humble labor for the first time in her life, she struggled through failed attempts at market-selling and pottery, forced finally to work as a lowly kitchen servant in a grand castle. At a royal feast there, she was humiliated further when scraps she'd hidden in her pockets for her family spilled out publicly — only for the king hosting the feast to reveal himself as her husband all along, the very "King Thrushbeard" she'd once mocked, who had orchestrated the entire humbling experience himself. Having learned true humility at last, she was welcomed back as his genuine, chastened queen.