It was a revelation to Star Wars fans that Princess Leia Organa had her Ph.D. at the young age of 19, according to George Lucas. Except his words may have been taken too literally.
Leia, Princess of Alderaan is a novel in the works, and is being written by Claudia Gray. The novel is expected to be the female character’s origin story. Claudia tweeted about the information, stating she didn’t know of any such degree that Leia might possess.
She seemed rather incredulous as she tweeted:
Hang on wait what… Leia had a PhD in Star Wars? Christ can you imagine having everyone call you Princess when you were actually Dr Organa pic.twitter.com/HYertPJqWU
— Dr Becca Harrison (@BeccaEHarrison) August 4, 2017
This would be news to me… https://t.co/yvbZyQV86e
— Claudia Gray (@claudiagray) August 6, 2017
There is a point to be made that since the story is based hugely on fiction, it is possible there is no such degree in that world, reports ComicBook.com. Though, since there are doctors in the franchise, they probably need some sort of degree, even being as advanced a civilization as they are. Who knows what they might call it.
With that in mind, and the fact that none of the really ever made it into franchise either on screen or in print, it is pretty obvious that Lucas was more or less using a stereotype to build his character base. She was meant to be portrayed as strong and very different than her brother.
Leia, Princess of Alderaan releases in bookstores September 1 as part of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi story.
The newest Star Wars movie will release in theaters December 15.