We're used to seeing old-fashioned, high-society courtships played out on such TV shows as Bridgerton, The Buccaneers and The Gilded Age. But now the fascination with period-drama levels of chivalry has morphed into Gen Z's favourite fast-growing social-media phenomenon: "princess treatment". Just in case you've been too busy attending balls in glittering palaces to follow the latest camera-ready dating trend, princess treatment refers to various supposedly fairy tale-worthy gestures made by women's partners, including (but never limited to) lattes in bed, flowers every Friday, partner-funded pedicures, and doors being opened for you.
In social-media posts, princess treatment is typically contrasted with the "bare minimum" (think: baseline expectations of communication and remembering birthdays). And, of course, such treatment is eminently clickable: social-media platforms have increasingly turned private acts of affection into public displays. But how healthy is it? Part etiquette trend, part relationship aspiration, part fantasy – is princess treatment empowering, a bit of fun, or a sinister kind of turbo-charged trad wife-ism?
