The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a 2023 romantic comedy graphic novel by Deya Muniz.
Cam (short for Camembert) is a noblewoman forced to take on the identity of her father's male heir so she can inherit upon his death without needing to marry. She moves to the capital city with only her maid Feta for company, intending to lay low, but not being one to sit still for long, she ends up attending a ball thrown by the Princess Brie and joining her circle of fashion-minded friends. Things get more complicated when Cam and Brie start falling in love with each other.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: After reaching her limit with Brie's unwillingness to admit her feelings, Zola asks why the crown princess is so scared to do anything about this situation when she's fought so hard for so many other causes in the past.
- Edible Theme Naming: The story is set in the Kingdom of Fromage and everybody in the main cast is named after cheese. The protagonist is called Camembert, her love interest and princess of the kingdom is Brie, their closest friends are Ricotta and Gorgonzola, Cam's maid is Feta, and even Brie's pet dog is called Gouda. In contrast, the stuffy, older guy Brie is arranged to marry is called Broccoli, and he's from a neighboring kingdom.
- Incompatible Orientation: Cam's father tried to set her up with various suitors, all of which she rejected because, as she tells him upfront, she does not like men. He's surprisingly understanding and comes up with the idea to disguise her as man instead, to solve the inheritance problem.
- It's Fake Fur, It's Fine: Brie throws a ball with a stipulation that forbids guests from wearing clothing made of real fur. Cam decides to attend it while wearing a stole, enraging Brie when she sees her with it, but Cam reveals that it's made of fake fur and boasts that it's much better quality than the real thing. This makes Brie warm to her.
- Marriage of Convenience: What Zola's relationship to her late husband was. She got to create her own fashion brand so long as he was the face of the company and took all the credit. While Zola states her husband "treated her kindly" and let her do her own thing, she openly admits to Brie she hated every second of her marriage even if she was luckier compared to a lot of women.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Cam and Brie's friends Ricotta and Gorgonzola. Ricotta is vivacious while Gorgonzola is downbeat and keeps to herself. This contrast is best reflected in how they deal with Cam and Brie distancing themselves from each other, with Ricotta endlessly bugging them about it, while Gorgonzola mostly stays out of it, excluding one time she makes a cutting speech to Brie about how she's making a mistake.
- Schizo Tech: The setting is at least inspired by the 18th or 19th centuries, with the fashions and social mores you might expect, but occasionally characters are seen playing Nintendo Switch in their spare time, despite lack of other technology such as televisions, computers or phones.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Cam has to pass herself off as a man because women cannot inherit at all in this setting. In fact, the whole thing was her father's idea so she would not be left destitute upon his death.
- Trophy Wife: Zola reveals she had to deal with being seen as this when she married her husband, when the truth is she let him take the credit for all of the clothing designs and the brand she created because she legally couldn't do so until he died.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Zola finally has enough of the situation between Brie and Cam and calls Brie out for her unwillingness to admit she loves Cam. Zola reveals she understands Cam's situation because she endured something similar, having to hide her talent as a designer by allowing her husband (whom she didn't want to marry) to take all the credit for her work. It reached a point that the only way she could legally own the brand she created was for her husband to leave her the rights in his will when he died. She states that Brie has championed for so many causes and reforms in their society, so why is it she's scared of fighting for her right to love whoever she wants regardless of class or gender.
