Sleeping Beauty

In a faraway land, long ago, King Stephan and his fair Queen wished for a child.

At last a daughter was born, and they named her Aurora .
To honor the baby princess, the King held a great feast.
Nobles and peasants, knights and their ladies- everyone flocked joyfully to the castle.

King Stephan welcomed his good friend King Hubert
to the feast. King Hubert had brought his young son Phillip with him.
The Kings agreed that someday, Aurora and Phillip would be wed.

Among the guests were three good fairies,

Flora,

Fauna

and Merryweather.

Each wished to bless the infant with a gift.

Waving her wand, Flora chanted: "My gift shall be the gift of beauty."

"And mine", said Fauna "shall be the gift of song."

Before Merryweather could speak, the castle doors flew open.

A tiny flame appeared and grew quickly into the form of the evil witch Maleficent.
Maleficent was furious for she hadn't been invited to the feast.

"I too have a gift for the child", she sneered. "Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die." With a bolt of lightning, the witch was gone.

But Merryweather still had a gift to give, and so she said:
"If through this witch's trick
A spindle should your finger prick
Not in death, but just in sleep
And from this slumber you shall wake
When true love's kiss, the spell shall break"

King Stephen still feared for his daughter, so the good fairies hatched a plan.
They would take Aurora to live with them deep into the woods.
To guard the secret, the fairies disguised themselves into peasants
and changed Aurora's name to Briar Rose.

Photo Gallery