Princess Charlene's Vitiligo

by Rosie Peters

There once was a princess called Charlene. She lived in a far off land with her parents the King and Queen.

Princess Charlene was a beautiful and very happy girl except for one thing. There were some milky white marks on the skin of her forehead, chin and hands. Princess Charlene often wore a brown woollen hat pulled down over her forehead to hide some of the marks.

The Royal Doctor had told Princess Charlene and her parents that she had something called vitiligo and only one person in every hundred get it. He said that vitiligo didn't make you feel unwell and it wouldn't get sore or itch and sometimes other people in the family may have it too. This was surprising to the King because neither he nor the Queen had it, nor had any of the Royal Grandparents.

"Charlene," said the King, hugging his daughter. "You must be a very special princess, to have a condition that is uncommon."

"Yes," agreed The Queen. "You wouldn't want a common complaint like a runny nose would you, or a painful boil on the bottom."

Princess Charlene nodded. She had to agree that it was better, as she was a princess, that she didn't have a runny nose or a boil on her royal bottom. "But I would prefer not to have vitiligo. I want the doctor to get rid of it please." A tear trickled down her cheek.

The Royal Doctor was summoned. The King and Queen and Princess Charlene were sitting on their thrones when the doctor arrived. He bowed very low to show his respect.

The King spoke first. "Princess Charlene would like you to remove the vitiligo from her face and hands."

"Your Majesties!" said the Royal Doctor, his face reddening a little. "I cannot remove the vitiligo. It is simply skin that is lighter than the rest."

Princess Charlene's bottom lip quivered. "I want the white patches to go away. Have you got some medicine that will make them disappear?"

"Don't cry, beautiful princess. There are many clever ways we can tackle this problem," said the doctor with a wink.

"Have they worked for other people who have skin like me?"

"Oh yes, but I think the best thing to do now would be to arrange a royal demonstration," he continued mysteriously. "I will suggest my plan to your parents."

Princess Charlene pulled down her woollen hat then ran off to play with one of her puppies. The Royal Doctor followed the King and Queen into the garden to discuss his plan.

The Queen pleaded, "I do hope you can help Doctor. The Princess is so bothered by her vitiligo."

The King shook his head. " She shouldn't be so upset. When I look at Princess Charlene I hardly notice her problem. I see someone with bouncing auburn curls, a pretty turned up nose and huge green eyes."

"Yes," agreed the Doctor. "What I think might help is to let the princess have the opportunity to meet other people who have vitiligo. It can often be helpful when people with the same medical condition can meet."

"What a good idea," said the King. "We shall have a reception here at the palace for anyone who has this condition."

"I shall contact my medical friends," said the Royal Doctor. "They will help me to find people who have vitiligo."

Eventually the day of the reception arrived. Princess Charlene had agreed not to wear her woollen hat. The King, Queen and Princess all wore their sparkly crowns and Princess Charlene had on a pretty green silk dress which exactly matched the colour of her eyes. She felt warm and her heart seemed to be thumping loudly because she knew she had to meet a lot of people and they would all be looking at her.

"Don't worry my dear," said the Queen as she squeezed her daughter's hand.

Suddenly a footman opened the door and people started to file in. Each person bowed or curtsied to the Royal Family. The people then made their way to tables which were covered with crisp white linen cloths and set with jugs of lemonade and sparkling crystal glasses.

When everyone was seated, the Princess whispered to the Royal Doctor. "There are some impostors here."

"Not at all Your Highness," replied the doctor.

"But not everyone has white skin marks like me."

"Oh they do," said the doctor, "but many people have camouflaged their marks. Come I'll show you."

He led the way to where a group of people were sitting. "This is the Muldoon family," said the Royal Doctor. "Each one of them has vitiligo."

Princess Charlene peered closely at each of the six people. She could see two boys with white patches on their faces but the other people appeared unblemished. The Doctor and Princess sat down with the Muldoon family.

"Shall we show Her Royal Highness?" said the doctor to the family

Mrs Muldoon then produced a cloth pad and wiped her face. Some of the others did the same. Princess Charlene was so surprised to see that now all but one members of the family had white marks on their faces.

The doctor explained. "Many people who have vitiligo try to conceal it with skin camouflage. This means that the white patches of vitiligo are covered up with a coloured skin cream. The secret is to try and find the correct coloured cream to blend in with the rest of the skin."

"What a good idea," said Princess Charlene. She turned to the Muldoon boys. "I notice you two don't wear the cream."

"That's right Miss. I reckon them white patches is just part of me and I don't mind too much being different," said the older boy.

The Princess looked up at him. He had big brown eyes with long curly lashes. He seemed so handsome and confident.

"And I can't be bothered with no sissy creams," piped up the younger Muldoon boy screwing up his nose.

Mrs Muldoon interrupted. "I'm sorry Your Highness about them two speaking out like that. You see we've all got the same complaint but we choose to deal with it differently. My father here prefers to use a fake tan which he gets from the chemist."

Princess Charlene could see that Grandfather Muldoon's wrinkled skin was a golden tan colour, including his gnarled old hands. "Is your sun tan not real then Mr Muldoon?" asked the Princess.

"Goodness me no, Your Highness. That colour came out of a bottle. I would never get a real tan as us folks with vitiligo are supposed to avoid strong sun. I think my fake tan covers up those white bits well. My brother mind, he had vitiligo really bad and he had a treatment to make the normal skin pale to match the white skin."

"That's so interesting," said Princess Charlene smiling. "What a lot of choice there is. Thank you all so much for coming. You've really helped me."

She and the Doctor moved to another part of the room to talk with more people. The Princess noticed that the King and Queen were chatting to a man with a thick stripe of white hair that stood out amongst the remaining black hairs on his head.

The Doctor explained, "That man has vitiligo too, but it's affected his hair rather than the skin. It looks splendid doesn't it, and makes him look sort of special."

The Princess nodded. She thought how good it was, to meet other people affected by the same condition that she had. She looked back towards the Muldoon family. The eldest boy was gazing at her, and smiling broadly, showing the whitest and straightest teeth she had ever seen. Princess Charlene could feel her heart racing as her mouth gave a flicker of a smile back. Turning quickly towards the doctor, they walked to the front of the room to meet up with the King and Queen, but all the time Princess Charlene was thinking about the boy.

"This event has been most useful to us Doctor," said the King.

The Queen smiled. "I'm sure that Princess Charlene will have much to think about now that she has met so many people who have vitiligo. Thank you for arranging it all."

"It's been an honour Your Majesty," said the Doctor "Please remember that there are several types of treatment available. Some people have found ultraviolet light treatment helpful, and I daresay there will be new treatments in the future. I feel sure something will be found to suit the Princess."

Princess Charlene pulled herself up to her full height and beamed. "I have made a decision, and thank you so much, Doctor, for your help in this. I've decided that my vitiligo is part of me. I am proud to be me. I'm not going to cover up the marks, and besides I can always change my mind later can't I."

"Yes you can," said the King proudly as he looked at his beautiful daughter.