The Princess and the Pea - water-colour illustration ... Now they could tell that she must be a real Princess, because she had felt the tiny pea through twenty mattresses and twenty quilts. No one but a princess could be so sensitive. So the prince asked her to be his bride, for at last he had found a real princess. The pea was put in a glass case and it is there still unless someone has carried it off. So you see, this is a true story! By Hans Christian Andersen