A Categorically Princely Quiz - Part One

Answer: Frog

The Hyloscirtus genus is a classification used for a large number of species of neo-tropical frogs. Hyloscirtus princecharlesi, otherwise known as the Prince Charles stream tree frog, was discovered by Dr. Luis Coloma and named after the prince because of his well-known interest in the environment and rainforest conservation.

Very little is known about this species and only a few individuals have been spotted in the wild. It is predominantly black with an orangey-red spotted pattern covering its entire body and makes its home in the rainforests surrounding the Andes mountain range. Sadly, this amazing habitat is at risk from both logging and agriculture, so the Prince Charles stream tree frog is already on the endangered species list despite having only been discovered in the 21st century.

Answer: pincer

A lobster has three pairs of pincers (technically known as chelae) - but it is the first pair that are the largest and give the creature its distinctive appearance. Although they make lobsters look distinctly threatening, they are actually used for a wide range of tasks including self-defence, feeding and courtship rituals.

Crabs generally have only a single pair of pincers, which are not necessarily of equal size. For example, one of a fiddler crab's pincers is much larger than other and is used for fighting, courtship and even communication (of sorts). Even more impressively, they also have the capability to re-grow these appendages if they lose them.

Answer: Blanket

Prince Michael Jackson II was born in 2002 and is the youngest of the late Michael Jackson's three children. Aside from being the son of a pop legend, he probably remains most famous for being dangled over the balcony of a Berlin hotel as a baby - an arguably ill-judged move by his father.

The official reason for the slightly odd nickname of 'Blanket' is unknown, but it is believed to have been given to him by his father. Newspaper reports in 2015 suggested that he had decided to drop the moniker and had chosen to be known as 'Bigi' instead - evidently he wasn't keen on being known by his real name either.

Answer: Wonder Woman

DC Comics' Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston in the 1940s. She was an Amazonian warrior princess known as Princess Diana of Themyscira in her homeland, but as Diana Prince whilst trying to keep a low profile amongst the ordinary human population.

The character had a range of super powers including great strength, speed, psychic abilities and accelerated healing. However, over the years the list often changed as storylines introduced new abilities or removed old ones. Two things that remained mostly unchanged were her weapons - a set of bracelets (the "Bracelets of Submission") that deflected projectiles such as bullets and the "Lasso of Truth", which forced anyone captured in it to speak only the truth.

The incorrect options are all other super-heroines (or anti-heroine in the case of Catwoman) depicted by DC Comics.

Answer: Eileen Prince

Snape's memories of his childhood suggested that his upbringing was far from princely, despite the slightly grandiose nickname he created for himself. His ill-fitting and mismatched clothing was more likely to have identified him as a 'Half-Blood Tramp' than a 'Half-Blood Prince' and his home on Spinner's End, located in a run-down manufacturing area, was definitely not a palace.

Little mention was made of Snape's mother, Eileen Prince, during the course of the 'Harry Potter' novels. However, her name did come up during Hermione's research into wizarding people named Prince where she was identified as having been a captain of the Hogwarts' Gobstones club and described as being "simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face".

Madam Irma Pince was the Hogwarts' librarian; the other two names are entirely fictional - but weren't created by J.K. Rowling!

Answer: Liechtenstein

The modern day state of Liechtenstein, a small doubly-landlocked country in Central Europe, was created from the smaller states of Vaduz and Schellenberg. Interestingly, the name of the country came from its monarchy rather than the other way round; the Princes of Liechtenstein (whose title dates back to the mid-16th century) took control of the territory when it became a sovereign member state of the Holy Roman Empire in 1719.

Prince Hans-Adam II inherited the throne from his father in 1989. His eldest son, Hereditary Prince Alois, became regent in 2004, in a move designed to allow a member of the younger generation to take power. The princes of Liechtenstein have more political clout than most remaining European monarchies with the power to veto laws, propose new legislation, call referenda and dissolve parliament.

Andorra has been an independent principality since 1278, but its co-princes are whoever happen to be the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell, so it does not have a hereditary monarchical family. Wales and Catalonia are former principalities - they haven't technically existed as such since the 16th century and 18th century respectively.

Answer: Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island became Canada's seventh province when it entered confederation on 1 July 1873. It was named after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn - the father of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom - while its capital city, Charlottetown, was named after the duke's mother, Queen Charlotte. The other Maritime Provinces are New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

It is located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on the east coast and is the smallest of Canada's provinces at just 5,660 square kilometres (contrast that with the 1.4 million square kilometres of the largest province, Quebec!). The economy is based around agriculture, fishery and tourism - with its fame as the setting for Lucy Maud Montgomery's 'Anne of Green Gables' probably helping out with the latter.

The incorrect options are all Canadian islands that are larger than Prince Edward Island, despite not qualifying as either provinces or territories in their own right. Prince of Wales Island and Prince Charles Island, named after the future King Edward VII and the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II respectively, are in Nunavut; Prince Patrick Island, named after Queen Victoria's third son Prince Arthur (Patrick was one of his middle names), is in the Northwest Territories. None of them have any permanent inhabitants.

Answer: Crystal Palace

Otherwise known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition, the event was held in 1851 in a specially designed glass and iron-framed building known as the Crystal Palace. Designed by Joseph Paxton, it was located in London's Hyde Park and survived (albeit in a different location) until 1936. The exhibition itself was designed to showcase British industrial developments and achievements - although other nations were also represented - and was the first in a series of similar events held all over the world in the latter part of the 19th century. The idea also continued into the 20th and 21st centuries - with the technology on display growing ever more complex.

Prince Albert was heavily involved in the organisation and promotion of the event and he and his family visited it several times. It wasn't the only example of his work to reform and develop areas of society though - he also reformed the curriculum of the University of Cambridge and took an interest in both social welfare and the anti-slavery movement. Funds generated by the 1851 Great Exhibition were also used to buy land and set up the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Albert Hall (although the latter two gained their modern names after his death in 1861).

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire belongs to the Duke of Marlborough and Lambeth Palace is home to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Answer: Monaco

The euro became the day-to-day working currency of many of the European Union's members on 1 January 2002 when banknotes and coinage first went into general circulation. The new euro coins generally all had the same design on the reverse side, but individual members of the 'Eurozone' used their own national designs for the obverse side. In addition, other countries who were not members of the European Union signed agreements allowing them to both use the euro and produce their own coinage - hence Monaco was able to produce 1 euro coins featuring both the bust of their Head of State, Prince Rainier III, and his son and heir (who later became Prince Albert II).

Prince Rainier III of Monaco is probably best remembered for his fairy-tale marriage to the American Hollywood star, Grace Kelly, and for turning around the fortunes of his small country by launching Monaco as a destination for the rich, famous and tax-conscious. Their son, Prince Albert, assumed the throne following his father's death in 2005.

The incorrect options are all other nations that have used the euro as their official currency despite the fact that they weren't member states of the European Union.

Answer: Deiphobus

Prince Paris of Troy started the Trojan Wars by running away with the famously beautiful Helen of Sparta - daughter of Zeus - although sources vary on whether Helen went willingly or not. However, Helen's husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, wasn't willing to let her go without a fight and attacked Troy in order to retrieve her. Paris was killed during the war and after some dispute over which of his brothers she should marry instead, she ended up as the wife of Deiphobus - bigamy clearly wasn't considered an issue at that time! After the fall of Troy (and Deiphobus) Helen was reunited with Menelaus and returned to live with him in Greece.

Paris and Deiphobus were two of the fifty or so sons of King Priam of Troy. They were both among the younger sons of Priam's second wife, Hecuba; their eldest brother Hector (who was also killed during the Trojan Wars) was the heir to the throne. Deiphobus is depicted in some stories as having assisted in the killing of Achilles and was able to claim Helen's hand in marriage because of his deeds during the war. Helenus and Polydorus were two other sons of Priam and Hecuba - Helenus was notable for being a seer, like his twin sister Cassandra.