Princess, Please Get in the Car(公主请上车):
In Chinese, it is pronounced as: gōng zhǔ qǐng shàng chē，Written as:

“Princess, please get in the car” is a popular internet phrase in China. Its origin can be traced back to a classic old movie, Roman Holiday. In the movie, Gregory Peck’s journalist character says this line to Audrey Hepburn’s princess character: “Princess, please get in the car.”
The phrase later became a trending meme due to a humorous video on the Chinese short-video platform Douyin (TikTok’s counterpart in China). In the video, a father rides an electric scooter to pick up his daughter. Instead of cooperating immediately, the daughter demands her father to say, “Princess, please get in the car.” However, the father, unimpressed, speeds off without her, leaving the daughter chasing after him.
After this video went viral, it sparked a wave of imitations and creative spin-offs, driven by short-video creators and e-commerce merchants. Variations of the meme emerged, such as “Princess, please have some tea,” “Princess, please dine,” “Princess, please sign for your package,” and “Princess, please place an order.” The phenomenon is seen as a success in “emotional marketing.” Many people have commented that a simple phrase like “Princess, please” brightened their day and alleviated their fatigue. Beneath this nationwide “princess party” lies a reflection of young people’s pursuit of ritual and romance in their lives. Life needs a touch of ceremony, and the simple phrase “Princess, please” brings a sense of respect and romance to those navigating their busy lives.
This phrase, which sounds endearing but not overly saccharine, has inspired creative applications in different contexts. For example, university cafeterias have hung banners reading “Princess, please dine” or “Princess, please choose your meal.” To cater to male students, phrases like “Prince, please dine” have also appeared. In livestream shopping sessions, hosts enthusiastically promoting products often say, “Princess, please place an order.”
However, as the trend gained traction, some took it to inappropriate extremes. On October 31, a cycling enthusiast posted a short video showing a first-person perspective of an ambulance arriving to assist her after a fall. Two paramedics in reflective vests approached to check on her injuries. She requested that they say, “Princess, please get in the car,” which they did. This video was met with widespread criticism and even verbal abuse, with people accusing her of making light of a serious situation and wasting public resources. Similarly, in road safety videos produced by local police departments, officers encountered bike passengers without helmets. When asked to dismount, some violators demanded, “You need to say, ‘Princess, please get off the bike.’” In some cases, officers complied. This sparked dissatisfaction among some viewers, who argued that the seriousness of law enforcement should not be compromised for the sake of entertainment or gaining online views.
While “Princess, please get in the car” can bring joy and amusement to some, it should never be forced upon others. When used appropriately and with mutual consent, playful memes can be beneficial to mental well-being. However, when it becomes a compulsory demand or a form of so-called “emotional blackmail,” the phrase loses its charm. Instead of being a comforting whisper to ease the day’s fatigue, it risks becoming an overused, tiresome joke.