...so I ended up editing Stef’s intro because of the changes made to her basics & backstory!! It’s almost the same, I just added the part about her birth mother dying & her father remarrying c: The bio is quite long so there’s a tldr at the bottom!
here it is!
&&. announcing her grace, ( stefania kalena czartoryska ), the ( 37 ) year old ( queen ) of ( poland ). she is often confused with ( anne hathaway ). some say that she is ( too stoic and altruistic ), but she is actually ( clear-headed and meticulous ).
basics
Name: Stefania Kalena Czartoryska
Gender: Cisfemale
Place of Birth: Warsaw, Poland
Date of Birth: September 21, 1982
Age: 37
Title: Queen of Poland
Education: graduated with a double major in Political Science & International Relations from Oxford University
Positive Traits: clear-headed & meticulous
Negative Traits: stoic & altruistic
Birth Parents: (name to be updated) Czartoryska & Kazimierz Czartoryski (both deceased)
Stepmother: Simonetta Di Savoia-Czartoryska
Siblings: Samuel (full), Sasha (half) & Serafina (half)
introduction
Not every life starts on good note
Being the first born of Queen (name to be updated) and King Kazimierz, it was a given that her parents showered her with their love and full attention. That did not change when her younger brother, Samuel, came along. It did change, however, in the year 1987 when her mother passed away. Stefania did not understand that concept. All she cared about at the time was that her mother never kissed her goodnight anymore.
Fortunately, their home did not stay cold forever. King Kazimierz remarried in the year 1990 and his second wife, Queen Simonetta of Italy made Stefania the love of a mother again. She may still hold her birth mother close to her heart but that did not mean that she didn't share the love she was capable of giving with her stepmother. She did, and she shared that love with her two step siblings as well.
but you have only one life to live,
It was also a given that there was pressure on Stefania’s shoulders. Her name alone reminded her of what she was supposed to do in her life which was to take over the throne and rule her country one day. It made sense, then, that she was given everything she needed to do that. She was given the best education, received assistance from the most notable tutors, had the most reliable ladies-in-waiting that one could ask for.
Being raised the way that Stefania led to some people wanting an out of their “calling” but that wasn’t the case for her. No, she wanted to live her life this way, to see how things are done, to have a say in how things are done and to give her people the sense of security and peace that she was fortunately born with. She wanted the power and was set on using it to make things better. The thing is she had only one life to live. Can she say that she was actually living it? The answer is no.
one chance to make it worthwhile,
Give a smile, shake some hands, engage in conversations and show your siblings what they should do.
For years, Stefania wanted to find a balance between doing what was expected of her and actually living her life but all her efforts were to no avail. It took one day filled with too much pressure and anxiety about the future to get her to set everything aside and to finally take the break that she deserved.You see, everyone has a breaking point and what caused Stefania to reach hers was an argument with her stepmother. Now, it was rare for her to ever answer back because she was honestly afraid of the queen at the time. However, she could not keep her mouth shut when she heard the words “You cannot make mistakes like this.” It was said after she was caught sneaking out of a palace guard’s room. She was twenty-two at the time.
She was tired of setting aside the things that she wanted to do all the time, and she hated that the one time she actually did something for herself, it led to her mother looking for a more “suitable” man for her. That’s was caused her to run away for a while. That’s when she started living her life.
For a year, she never stepped foot in their palace. Instead, she she travelled the world, attended the parties that she used to skip and ticked things off the bucket list she made when she was eighteen. Throughout that year, her name was not a stranger to the headlines and, obviously, Simonetta was not happy about this. Surprisingly, however, Kazimierz was. When she finally went home, the first words her father told her were it is about time you had a life outside this palace. That was the start of his support for her living a life that balances her responsibility and her fun.
one chance to get it right.
Unfortunately, that kind of life was not meant to last forever for Stefania and she knew that. She knew that there would come a day when she’d have to give up her fun for the sake of her responsibility, and she was willing to do so.
The thing is she had to do it sooner than she expected to. It was one thing to watch her father get weaker as the days pass, it was another to have to deal with his death and all the power that was in her hands. She didn’t give herself the chance to grieve. Instead, she put up a tough front, held on to her siblings as they grieved and assured them & her people that things will be okay.
Ever since, she either did not acknowledge or kept her sadness or fear to herself because she felt like doing otherwise will not do her people or her family any good. It may have been a heavy burden for her to carry but it was a price she was willing to pay.
So, your majesty, what are you going to do now?
tldr
She was named Stefania which, in Greek, means “crowned” so she had a daily reminder of her responsibility. It didn’t help that her parents (especially her mother) made her feel the pressure.
She rarely does things for herself like she has that “responsibility over me” mindset. One of the few times that she actually did that was with one of the royal guards. She was twenty-two at the time, so was he and they were in a relationship. It was going fine until she was caught sneaking out of his room lols so that didn’t end well for her or for him. It’s what led to her mother making it her personal mission to arrange an engagement for Stefania. She’s had her fair share of those engagements but none have worked out.
That argument with her stepmother after she got caught was what led her to run away. Like she wanted to live a life without any of the pressure so she spent a year traveling the world, partying, ticking off things on her bucketlist and doing things that caused her to be a headline a lot.
She thought that when she’d go home, she wouldn’t be the heir to the throne anymore but, surprisingly, her father supported her living a life like that. After years of doing nothing but what was expected of her, he felt like it was only fair that she get time off. So, with her support and despite being against Simonetta’s wishes, she lived a life with both responsibility and fun. As long as you don’t do anything too stupid was what her father always told her.
Then her father died which caused her to give up the fun part of her life. Don’t get wrong, she was willing to do it but she just had to do it sooner than she expected. Ever since, she’s had that “responsibility > me” mindset again and she does not show her siblings or her people if she’s feeling sad or afraid because, for her, doing so will not do them any good. It was a heavy burden for sure but she was willing to carry it on her own.
tidbits
She is very compassionate (sometimes too compassionate according to her mother). Think Princess Mia from the Princess Diaries Typical, I know (and a little funny now that her fc is Anne Hathaway) but she’s one of my inspos for Stef!!
She’ll do anything and everything for her people. And when she gets an idea that will be for their betterment, she won’t stop until she gets it done.
She rarely gets into arguments with people but when someone is being too cruel, she will not be able to keep her thoughts to herself.
She loves all her siblings with all her heart and whenever she feels like they need her, she’d cancel her plans for them. She’s the type of person who calls her friends out on doing something stupid only to support them right after. “As long as you’re not hurting anyone, yourself included.” - that’s what she always says.
She wanted to get married and have a family of her own before she took the throne but then things don’t always go as planned.