Princesses wear glasses too!
When Lowri couldn’t find a Disney princess like her, she had the vision to make her own
Sick of having to take her glasses off to play princesses with her friends, bespectacled beauty Lowri Moore took matters into her own hands. At just nine years old, she penned a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger, calling for more characters “wearing glasses like me”.
“I used to think I should take off my glasses to be a princess because princesses never had glasses on,” Lowri tells Woman’s Day.
“I saw so many films where the character took off their glasses to become beautiful... I thought having a character who wears them would give young people a role model to look up to.”
The UK schoolgirl’s letter went viral, capturing hearts around the world. And while her Disney dream didn’t come true, Lowri, now 11, did get the attention of illustrator and Disney fan Natalie Owen, who created a character just for her.
With Natalie’s help, Lowri has written her first book, Princess Rose And The Golden Glasses, which follows Rose as she learns to appreciate her true beauty, specs and all.
“When I shared an idea for a story I had with Natalie, she loved it and offered to bring it to life,” says Lowri, who has sold more than 1600 copies of her book since it was published in March. “I told her the storyline and the characters, including
Angusina, the dark version of the princess, a bit like that voice in my head that told me I wasn’t beautiful.
“I want people to take no notice of that voice... be yourself, no matter what!”
With a portion of sales donated to help vulnerable children access eye tests and glasses, Lowri’s proud mum Cyrilyn, 42, says she’s blown away by her daughter’s “enormous heart”.
“I can’t believe my little girl has raised this issue and that the world has taken notice. It’s absolutely incredible,” says Cyrilyn. “It’s thanks to Lowri opening my eyes – pun intended – that we can now address this problem.”
Holding the book in her hands for the first time, the young author says she was overwhelmed.
“It didn’t feel real,” says Lowri. “All I wanted to do was make a difference, and now I feel that I’ve done that.”