The Real-Life Women—and Legends—Behind 4 Beloved Disney Princesses

Disney princesses have been inspiring fans for decades, but who inspired those Disney princesses?

In many cases, storytellers took inspiration from fairy tales and folklore. But other princesses have the distinction of being inspired by historical women who led their own remarkable lives before inspiring a big-screen version. From Scotland to the American South and beyond, you may be surprised to learn about some of these real-life figures behind your favorite princesses. 

1. Pocahontas
2. Rapunzel: St. Barbara 
3. Tiana: Leah Chase
4. Merida: Women of Scotland

Pocahontas

Pocahontas was released in 1995 and featured the voices of Mel Gibson and Christian Bale as well as Irene Bedard and Judy Kuhn, who gave Pocahontas both her speaking and singing voice. But the title character was also a real-life person.

Pocahontas was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, who led Native American tribes in what is today's Virginia. It's there that Pocahontas and her tribe developed a contentious relationship with British settlers who had arrived, including Captain John Smith, who also makes an appearance in the Disney movie.

After being kidnapped by the English, Pocahontas eventually married another British settler, John Rolfe. Her marriage to Rolfe led to a temporary peace between the English settlers and her Native American tribe. She traveled to England in 1616 with her family, but when the family started on their trip back to Virginia, she became ill before leaving the country and died of her illness.

Rapunzel: St. Barbara 

St. Barbara was likely born in the third century in Greece and was raised by her pagan father, Dioscorus. According to legend, her father built a tower to stop any man from seeing her great beauty, similar to the tower that protected the fictional Rapunzel from the outside world. 

But like the rebellious Rapunzel, Barbara decided to not follow her father's pagan ways, instead dedicating herself to following Christianity. According to Christian teachings, her enraged father pulled out his sword to attack her, but her prayers were answered and she was able to escape through a gap in the tower. Eventually, her father found her and beheaded her for her betrayal.

Barbara's father was later killed after being struck by lightning, and St. Barbara has become a patron saint who is invoked for protection against lightning, explosives, and fire. She's also the patron saint of miners and artillerymen. While it is not known for sure if St. Barbara helped inspire later tales that shaped Disney’s Tangled, it certainly isn’t hard to see the parallels.

Tiana: Leah Chase

In Disney's 2009 hit The Princess and the Frog, Tiana has big dreams of going from a waitress to owning a restaurant—and there's a real-life restaurateur who inspired Tiana's creation.

Leah Chase was well known in New Orleans by her title “Queen of Creole Cuisine,” and even hosted presidents at her restaurant, Dooky Chase's Restaurant, which she owned with her husband. In fact, she was so well known that Disney sought her out, and some creators interviewed her as they put together the unique story of a Black princess who had a dream of someday being an entrepreneur herself.

Chase passed away in 2019, but her Disney legacy lives on. Tiana's Bayou Adventure ride features Princess Tiana, and when it first opened in 2024 at Disney World, the company invited members of Chase's family to be some of the first people to ride it.

Merida: Women of Scotland

Brave's heroine Merida is depicted as a strong woman who can deftly use a bow and arrow and holds her own against those who doubt her toughness and determination.

While there is no single woman that filmmakers used to create the character of Merida, Scottish history offers up a long list of inspirations that screenwriters could have drawn from while shaping Merida's confidence and fighting spirit. Agnes Randolph, who is sometimes referred to by historians as Black Agnes, successfully defended Dunbar Castle from an English attack while her husband was away. Jenny Cameron of Glendessary raised an army of 300 men to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 1700s. And Lady Anne Mackintosh was also known as Colonel Anne and played a major role in the Jacobite uprising in 1745.

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