With almost everything else to make them happy , they wanted one thing : they had no children . This vexed the king even more than the queen , who was very clever and learned , and who had hated dolls when she was a child . However , she , too in spite of all the books she read and all the pictures she painted , would have been glad enough to be the mother of a little prince . The king was anxious to consult the fairies , but the queen would not hear of such a thing . She did not believe in fairies : she said that they had never existed ; and that she maintained , though The History of the Royal Family was full of chapters about nothing else . Well , at long and at last they had a little boy , who was generally regarded as the finest baby that had ever been seen . Even her majesty herself remarked that , though she could never believe all the courtiers told her , yet he certainly was a fine child -- a very fine child . Now , the time drew near for the christening party , and the king and queen were sitting at breakfast in their summer parlour talking over it . It was a splendid room , hung with portraits of the royal ancestors . There was Cinderella , the grandmother of the reigning monarch , with her little foot in her glass slipper thrust out before her . There was the Marquis de Carabas , who , as everyone knows , was raised to the throne as prince consort after his marriage with the daughter of the king of the period . On the arm of the throne was seated his celebrated cat , wearing boots . There , too , was a portrait of a beautiful lady , sound asleep : this was Madame La Belle au Bois-dormant , also an ancestress of the royal family . Many other pictures of celebrated persons were hanging on the walls . `` You have asked all the right people , my dear ? '' said the king . `` Everyone who should be asked , '' answered the queen . `` People are so touchy on these occasions , '' said his majesty . `` You have not forgotten any of our aunts ? '' `` No ; the old cats ! ''
replied the queen ; for the king 's aunts were old-fashioned , and did not approve XXXXX her , and she knew it .
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