''American Princess'' is an American reality competition that aired on

WE tv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Amer ...

from August 7, 2005, until October 7, 2007. It is hosted by

Catherine Oxenberg Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Howard Oxe ...

with

Jean Broke-Smith Jean Broke-Smith is an English etiquette, deportment and grooming teacher. Career Jean was the principal of the Lucie Clayton School of grooming and modelling for thirty years, during which time she supervised a curriculum that included ...

and

Paul Burrell Paul Burrell (born 6 June 1958) is a former servant of the British Royal Household and latterly butler to Princess Diana. Background and Royal Household career Burrell was born and raised in Grassmoor, Derbyshire, a coal-mining village. His ...

serving as judges. ''American Princess'' is based on the

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

play '' Pygmalion'' and Alan Jay Lerner's ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' in a modern setting, where twenty American women who are average, plain, and rather ill-mannered, are taken to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to master the finer arts of British society and be crowned "American Princess" and earn valuable prizes. But first, the women have to learn how to eat dinner, handle cutlery, serve tea, walk in high heels, dance, and act as a proper royal should be. There is an Australian version called ''

Australian Princess ''Australian Princess'' is an Australian reality television show that first premiered on Network Ten on 5 October 2005. It is produced by Granada Australia, who are responsible for other programs such as ''Dancing with the Stars'', ''Australia's ...

'', which features similar judges such as Paul Burell who also appears in both versions.

References

External links

Official Website (via Internet Archive)
* {{Pygmalion 2000s American reality television series 2005 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings Fashion-themed reality television series Television series by ITV Studios