I swear, it’s the same thing I thought, Because as soon as I reblogged the post, I thought about it a bit and it reminded me of a scene identical to the one you described, one I’d already seen in a movie before (called “Ferdinand, King of Naples”), and I think that, considering that Eric always dresses like a sailor and loves spending time on ships, I think something like that would be very plausible; in fact, it may have already happened several times. Perhaps the guards didn’t notice it right away because they had just been hired, because they were newcomers, and also because Eric, being very humble, judging by what we see in the scene where Grimsby gives him the statue for his birthday, doesn’t like being depicted in ways he doesn’t recognize himself in, or perhaps he just doesn’t like being depicted in sculptures or portraits in general, so it’s also plausible that there aren’t many portraits of him in the castle... And perhaps, for these reasons, he wasn’t recognized immediately (I can’t even imagine the embarrassment of the guards when Grimsby arrived and told them that the prisoner was the prince, especially if those guards were new hires😅).
Anyway, in that fan art Eric seems a little annoyed by the situation, but I think in a situation like that he would ALSO be smirking and giggling sarcastically, like: “Look at this kind of situation… I am a Prince, my OWN guards don’t recognize me and they imprison me in the cells of my OWN castle, LOL”. By the way, this is a REALLY wonderful headcanon, great idea, thank you sm!❤️
I also imagined how this scene could continue:
Grimsby arrived and—shocked and annoyed—let Eric out of the cell…
Grimsby: *raising an eyebrow* *sarcastically* “What the h3ll were you doing there, by the way?”
Eric: *proud face* “Prison quality control. I wanted to personally test the comfort of the cells, to ensure prisoners’ right to be comfortable during their (forced) stay.” *nods to make his statement seem stronger*
Grimsby: *even more shocked* *the AUDACITY*
Ariel: *can barely keep from bursting out laughing*
Grimsby: *looks at Ariel suspiciously, like if to say: “How EVEN were you with him in this whole thing?”
Ariel: *tries to regain some composure*
Grimsby: *goes away, muttering* “These young people nowadays…”
Ariel and Eric: *wait until Grimsby is far enough away and then they both burst out laughing, because they couldn’t hold it in any longer*