Honorary Disney Princesses are Disney heroines who feel princess-adjacent, royal, or important enough that fans often group them near the official lineup, even though Disney does not count them as official Disney Princesses. The key difference is simple: “Disney Princess” is a specific Disney franchise label, not a catch-all term for every princess, queen, heroine, or popular female character Disney owns.
That is why characters like Anna, Elsa, Alice, Esmeralda, Megara, Giselle, Elena, Sofia, Jane, and Princess Leia come up in Disney Princess conversations but still do not officially count.
I notice this confusion a lot because Disney does not always make the distinction obvious in the parks. You might see Anna and Elsa with massive Frozen visibility, find Alice in Fantasyland, or see Elena presented in a royal way, and it naturally feels like they should all be part of the same princess group. But Disney separates the official princess brand from other character franchises.
Honorary Disney Princesses Explained
“Honorary Disney Princesses” is mostly a fan-made term. It usually refers to Disney female characters who are not in the official Disney Princess lineup but still feel close to it.
Some are actual princesses in their stories. Some are not royal but have the same classic Disney heroine feeling. Others belong to Disney-owned franchises that are kept separate from the Disney Princess brand.
That is why the phrase can be useful, but also a little messy. It is not an official Disney category. It is more of a way fans describe characters who almost fit, used to be associated with princess-style marketing, or are commonly mistaken for official princesses.
For the clean official group, I would use my guide to all the Disney Princesses as the main reference point. Honorary princesses are the wider circle around that official list.
Why Honorary Disney Princesses Are Not Official
The official Disney Princess lineup is a branded franchise. Disney uses that group together for princess merchandise, character pages, books, costumes, toys, marketing, and park experiences.
That is different from simply being a princess in a Disney movie.
Anna and Elsa are the easiest example. They are royal sisters, and Elsa is a queen for much of the Frozen story. But they are not official Disney Princesses because Frozen is powerful enough as its own franchise. Disney does not need to fold them into the broader princess brand.
Mulan shows the opposite side of the rule. She is not royal by birth or marriage, but she is an official Disney Princess. That only feels strange if you assume the lineup is based only on story logic. It is not. The official group is based on Disney’s franchise branding.
So the practical rule is this:
If Disney includes the character in the official Disney Princess franchise, she is official. If fans include her because she feels princess-like, royal, or princess-adjacent, she is honorary.
For the stricter breakdown, my official Disney Princess list is the better page to compare against.
Common Honorary Disney Princesses
Not every honorary princess is excluded for the same reason. Some are too tied to another franchise. Some are not royal. Some come from TV instead of theatrical animated films. Some are simply Disney heroines rather than Disney Princess franchise characters.
Anna and Elsa
Anna and Elsa are probably the most commonly debated honorary Disney Princesses. From a guest perspective, they feel like obvious candidates because they are royal, popular, and everywhere in the parks.
But Frozen operates as its own major Disney brand. Anna and Elsa have their own attraction presence, merchandise identity, songs, meet-and-greet demand, and fan base. In the parks, I have always felt like they are treated less like missing princesses and more like their own category.
That is why they are honorary in fan conversations, but not official Disney Princesses. I break this down more directly in are Anna and Elsa Disney Princesses?.
Giselle
Giselle from Enchanted feels like a Disney Princess on purpose. She sings, wears the fairy-tale dress, starts in an animated world, and clearly plays with the classic princess formula.
But she is not part of the official lineup. One practical issue often discussed is that Giselle is strongly tied to Amy Adams’ live-action likeness, which makes long-term princess branding and merchandise more complicated than it is for fully animated characters like Ariel, Belle, or Rapunzel.
To me, Giselle is one of the best examples of a character who is a princess in spirit, but not in official franchise use.
Alice, Esmeralda, Megara, and Jane
Alice, Esmeralda, Megara, and Jane are usually better described as Disney heroines than Disney Princesses.
Alice is iconic and very present in the parks, especially around Fantasyland, but she is not royal and is not part of the princess brand. Esmeralda has the confidence, beauty, and musical presence people associate with Disney heroines, but The Hunchback of Notre Dame was never positioned as a princess-brand film. Megara is a fan favorite, but Hercules is not a princess movie and Meg is not royal. Jane has an adventurous heroine quality, but Tarzan is not connected to the official princess franchise.
I like all of these characters, but they show why the honorary label can get loose. Sometimes people use it to mean “not official, but beloved.” That is fine casually, but it is not the same thing as being part of the Disney Princess lineup.
Sofia, Elena, and Princess Leia
Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor are actual princess characters, but they come from Disney Junior television rather than the main theatrical Disney Princess lineup. Elena especially can feel princess-like in the parks because of her royal styling and character presence, but she still is not part of the official lineup.
Princess Leia is another funny example because Disney owns Star Wars, and Leia is obviously a princess. But she belongs to Star Wars, not the Disney Princess brand. Her story, world, tone, costume design, and merchandise lane are completely separate.
She is a princess, but not a Disney Princess. That sentence sounds contradictory, but it is the whole point of this topic.
Official vs Honorary Disney Princesses
| Character | Often Treated as Honorary? | Why She Is Not Official |
|---|---|---|
| Anna | Yes | Frozen is its own major franchise |
| Elsa | Yes | Frozen branding stands apart from Disney Princess |
| Giselle | Yes | Tied closely to Enchanted and live-action likeness issues |
| Alice | Sometimes | Not royal and not part of the princess franchise |
| Esmeralda | Yes | Disney heroine, but not official princess branding |
| Megara | Sometimes | Not royal and Hercules is not a princess-brand film |
| Jane | Sometimes | Classic heroine, not princess franchise character |
| Sofia | Yes | Disney Junior princess, not theatrical lineup |
| Elena | Yes | TV princess, not official Disney Princess lineup |
| Leia | Often joked about | Star Wars princess, separate franchise |
This is why I would not use “honorary” as a replacement for “official.” It is useful for casual discussion, but it can confuse the answer if it is treated like a real Disney category.
For broader Disney Princess comparisons, guides like who are the 40 Disney Princesses? can be helpful as long as the reader understands those wider counts are not the same as the official franchise lineup.
How This Matters in the Parks
In the parks, the distinction matters most when you are planning character experiences.
Official princesses are more likely to appear in princess-specific spaces, dining, shows, merchandise, and meet-and-greet rotations. Honorary princesses usually appear through their own character worlds instead. Anna and Elsa connect to Frozen. Leia connects to Star Wars. Alice connects to Wonderland and Fantasyland. Elena and Sofia connect more to Disney Junior-style audiences.
So if you are planning around princess experiences, I would not assume honorary princesses will appear in the same places as the official lineup. For that, it is better to look at specific planning guides for Disney Princess dining, Disney Princess attractions, or places to meet Disney Princesses at Royal Hall.
The Simple Takeaway
Honorary Disney Princesses are beloved Disney heroines or royal characters that fans often place near the official princess lineup, but they are not official Disney Princesses. The reason usually comes down to branding, franchise separation, story category, character origin, or merchandise use.
Being official does not mean a character is better or more important. Elsa, Anna, Giselle, Alice, and Leia are all major Disney characters in their own ways. They just are not part of the official Disney Princess franchise.
For Disney’s own current princess branding, you can check the official Disney Princess site near the source. For planning and comparisons, the easiest rule is to separate official Disney Princesses from princess-like Disney heroines.
