The princess in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea might have had fibromyalgia syndrome, according to two researchers in Stockholm. The chronic sleep disturbance and musculoskeletal pain common in FMS patients aligns with the restless nights that the fairy tale attributes to royal hypersensitivity. A princess is so delicate, the story goes, that even a little nub under a mountain of eiderdown would keep her awake. But the Swedish researchers say she wasn’t just a spoiled royal, she This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-six Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 48 Jordan Casteel The acclaimed painter of people—and now plants. Arts & Culture Issue 48 The Art of Fashion On what artists’ clothes communicate. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Thanks, I Hate It How to give feedback to art friends. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Correction: The Starving Artist Bad times don’t always make for good art. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Rachid Koraïchi Meet the Algerian artist building cemeteries. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Simone Bodmer-Turner Meet the artist throwing clay a curveball.
