@coracle "Prunes and prisms" seems to have been a speaking exercise, especially for young ladies. It is mentioned in a number of things I've read, and clearly Lewis had heard of it too - although not being forced to do it himself!

Hmm.   I don't doubt that "prunes and prisms" was a speaking exercise, not only in England, & definitely in Scotland, to stop their "blethering on" about their "braw" command of "Inglis", but also elsewhere in the English-speaking world. But I doubt that it was especially for "young ladies" when in my class of maybe 20 or more 7-year-olds, there were as little as three girls, and the only "Miss Perfect" we had was the newcomer the following year, who had lovely long perfectly plaited hair, that I'd have liked to have worn but which I couldn't have managed by myself, and therefore, like all the boys, was fussed over by the teacher.   And when Lewis also hated boarding school, and was also born in Northern Ireland, I don't doubt that he, himself, was likely subjected to the same. 

The question is, what does that name say about Caspian's red-haired Aunt, whose given name was Prunaprismia? It is a bit harsh to say she wasn't "romantic", especially when, after all, after some years, she still managed to produce Miraz's very own son. 

@courtenay Mind you, all this is totally irrelevant to the topic of Ramandu’s daughter, or of romance in Narnia or elsewhere!! 

Are you suggesting that someone called Aunt Prunaprismia, wasn't a Queen of Narnia, being married to Miraz? But getting back to Lilliandil, whom @thef-maria   thought was not really worthy of Caspian, C.S. Lewis did describe her... "it was a tall girl dressed in a single long garment of clear blue which left her arms bare. She was bareheaded and her yellow hair hung down her back. And when they looked at her, they thought they had never known before what beauty meant". 

Set in the pre-Christian world of Glome on the outskirts of Greek civilization, it is a tale of two princesses: the beautiful Psyche, who is loved by the god of love himself, and Orual, Psyche's unattractive and embittered older sister, who loves Psyche with a destructive possessiveness. 

Now, C.S. Lewis did write a romantic novel called Till we have faces, as I quoted above, & further up the page. When you say "If Lewis already had that plot in mind, even vaguely, it might explain why he chose not to tell us very much about Caspian's wife", and also, "he must have decided it was a good idea to keep Caspian's wife mysterious and enigmatic", could it also be that in writing about Ramandu's daughter, he already had the Greek mythical "Psyche" in mind, and couldn't very well use that only too familiar name? 

Like you, I don't think much of Lillian, an old-fashioned name, already banished to middle names by 1935, and I agree that Lilliandil could also be associated with dill pickles. Furthermore, the Parliament of Owls in Silver Chair describe her as..."a great lady, wise and gracious and happy". Even if Walden bestowed that name on Ramandu's daughter, for their own purposes, it is a direct contradiction of what sort of person Ramandu's daughter was, and her resemblance to Psyche, Lewis' very epitome of beautiful mindfulness. 

@narnian78  I don’t find the name Lillian offensive in the least. Probably it didn’t mean a silly person at all a hundred years ago.

No, it didn't at all, and it was probably a nicer name than Sophronia, or some other old-fashioned Victorian names, whilst Sophia is often too used in this day and age to convey Ramandu's daughter's uniqueness.  

@waggawerewolf27 why I understand it as for young ladies is that it  pushes the lips forward, causing the speaker to use a small voice rather than the full volume that a more open mouth gives. I assume the pursed lips are meant to look appealing [like the awful duck face photos girls take of themselves]. 

A story on my bookshelf has the elder sister returning to a theatrical family after education at a school for young ladies. Her speaking has been modified and she can no longer project or even speak loud enough on the stage to be heard. 

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Are you suggesting that someone called Aunt Prunaprismia, wasn't a Queen of Narnia, being married to Miraz?

No, I was referring to the fact that my digression about my particular manner of speaking wasn't at all relevant to a discussion about Ramandu’s daughter. Who, whatever her other flaws or virtues, most likely didn't speak with an Aussie accent.   (Not even a Melbourne private school accent, let alone a Strine one.) I very much doubt Queen Prunaprismia did either, for that matter.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Like you, I don't think much of Lillian, an old-fashioned name, already banished to middle names by 1935, and I agree that Lilliandil could also be associated with dill pickles.

Oh, I meant "dill" as in "You dill!", which is what we called a person who did something silly, back when I was a kid. But yes, dill pickles — very popular on the other side of my family (the Polish side), but not a particularly pretty association for a name that's supposed to conjure up someone beautiful and wise and good.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Furthermore, the Parliament of Owls in Silver Chair describe her as..."a great lady, wise and gracious and happy".

I'd forgotten that particular detail — so we DO learn at least a tiny bit more about her as a person, and that to me makes the claim that she's nothing but an "idolized barbie doll" even less appropriate. A Barbie doll (which needs a capital, as it's a personal name as well as a brand name*) does not fit the description of "a great lady, wise and gracious and happy". At least not according to the stereotypes of femininity that the term "Barbie doll" always conveys.

I'm really glad to have that reminder from the books themselves that there IS more to Ramandu’s daughter than just the vague trope of idealised beauty that she initially seems to be, and that some fans obviously write her off as. I do wish we knew more about her and that she came across as a more well-rounded character. But Lewis gives us enough to convey that she is wise and happy — that she's an intelligent and knowledgeable and dependable woman who is highly respected in her role, AND (just as important) that she is happy in her marriage to Caspian and in her position as his Queen Consort.

That makes her more than good enough for Caspian and for Narnia, in my view — and for the purposes of the relatively simple fantasy stories for children that the Chronicles are, I really do think that's all we need. (Not necessarily all we want, but all that these not-highly-complex plots need.)

* Also, without a capital, the term "barbie" is Aussie slang for a barbecue.  

As this discussion seems to have run its course, we are closing it. Thank you for your interesting comments.