| “ | Hmm. And sadly, your mother is not here anymore, is she? And I am responsible for your upbringing. So dancing is forbidden strictly forbidden, and please, don't sing. It's out, too. | „ |
| ~ Rowena |
| “ | Over? Oh, really? Not if you want to see your sister again. Always the ringleader. Why not give you what you've always wanted? I wish you would dance forever and ever and ever! | „ |
| ~ Rowena to Genevieve before she is dusted by her into dancing forever. |
Duchess Rowena, also simply known as Rowena, is a character and the main antagonist in the 2006 direct-to-video animated Barbie film Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses.
She’s summoned by her cousin, King Randolph, to turn his twelve daughters into proper young princesses. But the Duchess had other plans, to poison the King and get rid of the princesses.
She was voiced by Catherine O'Hara, who also voiced Shock in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ludmilla in Bartok the Magnificent, the Maid in Dust Buddies, Kaossandra in Skylanders Academy and Dr. Georgina Orwell in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Biography
Rowena stripped the castle of everything the girls loved and even banned dancing and singing from the castle as well. Rowena enjoyed making the Princesses' lives miserable by making them do yard work and scrubs the steps. After she found out that their dancing shoes were worn out, she demanded to know the truth. Rowena ganged up on the youngest sister, Lacey, and the princesses told her the truth about them dancing at a pavilion in a magical kingdom. Rowena was fed up (thinking that the Princesses were lying) and locked them in their room.
But later on, Rowena was learned about the Magical Kingdom, thanks to her pet monkey Brutus. She learned how to enter the Magical Kingdom (after watching how the royal cobbler entered) and stole some flowers (that can grant wishes and returned to the castle. Rowena had her large footman (Desmond) destroy the mosaic in the girls room that formed the gateway, trapping them and cobbler in the Magical Kingdom.
While the Princesses and the Royal Cobbler were trapped, the King makes Rowena acting Queen until he gets better. Eventually, the Princesses and the Cobbler found a way out of the Magical kingdom and decided to take action and stop her, Rowena wasted her first wish to try and stop Princess Genevieve and Derek. She wished for 2 suits of armor to protect her but they were defeated.
Rowena wasted her second wish by using it on Princess Genevieve by making her dance forever, and ever. But the wish backfired after Genevieve fans the flower dust back at her. Thus Rowena is doomed to dance forever, along with her footman, who tried to free her, and so they danced out of King Randolph's castle forever. Unless magic is involved, it's likely that Rowena danced until she starved to death.
Relationship
Allies
- Desmond
- Mr. Fabian (formerly)
- Brutus
Enemies
- Princess Genevieve
- Prince Derek
- King Randolph
- Twyla
- Felix
- Princess Ashlyn
- Princess Blair
- Princess Courtney
- Princess Delia
- Princess Edeline
- Princess Fallon
- Princess Hadley
- Princess Isla
- Princess Janessa
- Princess Kathleen
- Princess Lacey
- Mr. Fabian
Gallery
Trivia
- Her voice actor Catherine O'Hara worked with Tim Curry (who voiced Mouse King and Philippe) in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
- She speaks with a British accent.
- A running gag in the film shows that Rowena almost always gets the princesses' names wrong (i.e. calling Fallon "Blair") because they were all wearing identical grey dresses. The only princess that Rowena gets the name right is Genevieve.
- She’s the second Barbie villainess with gray hair, the first being Gothel from Barbie as Rapunzel, the third being Gwyllion from Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess and the fourth being Svetlana Petranova from Barbie in Rock 'N Royals.
- It has been stated by many that the reason Rowena wants to rule her cousin's kingdom is because she has financial troubles; examples include her carriage falling apart when she arrives, her selling heirlooms from the castle to pay for poison, etc.
See Also
 Villains
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Barbie in the Nutecracker Barbie as Rapunzel Barbie of Swan Lake Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper Barbie: Fairytopia Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus The Barbie Diaries Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses Barbie as The Island Princess Barbie: Mariposa Barbie & the Diamond Castle Barbie in A Christmas Carol Barbie: Thumbelina Barbie and The Three Musketeers Barbie in A Mermaid Tale Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale Barbie: A Fairy Secret Barbie: Princess Charm School Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar Barbie in the Pink Shoes Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale Barbie: The Pearl Princess Barbie and the Secret Door Barbie in Princess Power Barbie in Rock 'N Royals Barbie & Her Sisters in A Great Puppy Adventure Barbie: Spy Squad Barbie: Starlight Adventure Barbie: Video Game Hero Barbie: Dolphin Magic Barbie: Princess Adventure Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures | ||
