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As Anita states in the Princess podcast: "Carrie Fisher wasn't a real princess, but she was certainly Hollywood royalty." The daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and Singing in the Rain actress Debbie Reynolds, Carrie grew up in a showbiz world, an experience she would later use in her bestselling books Postcards From the Edge and Wishful Drinking. But having famous parents didn't necessarily make her route into Star Wars any easier. It's rumoured that Jodie Foster, Glenn Close, Farrah Fawcett, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sigourney Weaver, Cybill Shepherd and even Meryl Streep all tried out for the Princess Leia role. But Carrie Fisher beat them all and got the part. Meryl would later play a thinly disguised version of Carrie in the film version of Postcards From the Edge.

She was a pioneer princess

Leia was a pioneer, a movie princess that had never been seen before on screen. As Rebecca states on the Princess podcast: "She was so different to the stock female lead from a science fiction film. I think she took everyone by surprise." And as the main character in a huge film franchise, she not only attracted women to the male-dominated sci-fi world, but also inspired multiple generations of female fans. As Maddie states: "She's got no fear at all and she let me know that I didn't need to be scared of Darth Vader either." In fact, after testing, more women than men said they'd want to go and see a Star Wars sequel.

She had iconic buns

One of the most recognisable features of Princess Leia is her hairstyle. As Maddie told the Princess podcast: "I've never really understood the space buns. They're considered iconic now, but I'm not convinced they were a good look." But there was more to this arrangement than meets the eye. According to George Lucas, the style is based on Pancho Villa-era Mexican revolutionaries. As Rebecca told Princess: "They are meant to look like Mexican rebel fighters. So they are based on a real hairstyle."

She was nearly the focus of the franchise

In very early versions of the Star Wars story, George Lucas had women play a far more dominant role. The saga originally revolved around a general and his daughter, with the daughter as the focus of the film. The daughter eventually became Luke Skywalker with Leia taking a slightly less prominent position. For the sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, screenwriter Leigh Brackett, an acclaimed sci-fi writer known as “the Queen of Space Opera”, changed the story to focus on Leia. According to Rebecca: "The original draft for that film has Leia taking on a much bigger role and her dialogue is much more sensitively handled." Sadly Leigh Brackett died during the scripting process and rewrites by subsequent male authors altered Leia's destiny.

She was forced out of her underwear

"There are no bras in space." This was the reasoning, according to Carrie Fisher, that she was requested not to wear undergarments beneath her white Leia robes in Star Wars. As Maddie points out in the Princess podcast: "I'm sure if you could have a structured Storm Trooper outfit, you can have a structured bra." But Carrie didn't simply accept this bizarre, sexist request. As Rebecca tells Princess: "She was quite forthright about the pressures that came with fame and about the way she was treated on film sets including Star Wars. She really did stand up for women's rights."

She symbolises female empowerment

But soon there was a space bra. An iconic, if controversial, one. In Return of the Jedi, the Princess is held hostage by evil “gangster slug” Jabba the Hutt and is forced to wear a skimpy, metal bikini. The bikini has become one of the most famous costumes in film history (and appeared in a favourite Friends episode). As Anita states: "It's a bondage fantasy." But Rebecca Harrison thinks there might have been more sinister motives. "I have often wondered whether that outfit was punishment for speaking out. She found it really demeaning. It was horrifying to her to see her presented in that way." But in recent Star Wars novels and comics, a new generation of writers and Leia fans has reclaimed the gold bikini as a symbol of female empowerment. As Rebecca reveals: "She's revered as the strong killer of Jabba the Hutt, rather than being seen as the objectified woman in a skimpy bikini."

She wanted to return on her own terms

Despite Princess Leia being a different kind of movie princess, very traditional pressures were put on actress Carrie Fisher. She was constantly told to watch her weight and, as Rebecca recounts, she was removed from a photo shoot publicising Star Wars as she was considered too heavy. As Rebecca told the podcast: "They cast thinner models instead." When the franchise returned and Carrie was asked to return, she insisted that she would look the way she wished and would not accept any requests regarding her shape or size. As Rebecca told the show: "She said, 'I'm either here as I am, or I'm not doing it.'"

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