Princess Shireen Baratheon is the only child of her parents, King Stannis and Queen Selyse. She is infected with Greyscale.
Character and Appearance[]
Shireen is regarded as a sweet child, but she is not considered very pretty. She has blue eyes, but inherited both her father's square, jutting jaw and her mother's large ears. The greyscale caused half of her left cheek and most of her neck to be covered in gray and black dead skin. She is nine years old.
History[]
When Shireen was an infant, she suffered from an infection called greyscale. The disease, which almost killed her, left the left portion of her cheek and neck stiff, dead, and flaky, mottled black and grey and hard to the touch.
As the daughter and heir of Stannis, Shireen resides at Dragonstone and is educated by Maester Cressen. She is usually seen in the company of Patchface, their mad, broken fool she calls "Patches", though his ravings sometimes frighten her.
Recent Events[]
A Clash of Kings[]
Shireen is at Dragonstone with her father and mother. Maester Cressen pities the sad looking child.
In retaliation for Stannis writing a letter to the lords of the Seven Kingdoms informing them that Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen Baratheon are the offspring of incest between Cersei and Jaime Lannister, the small council under Tyrion Lannister discusses schemes to spread rumors that Shireen is not Stannis's child, expecting that this would hurt Stannis's sense of honor. These schemes involve attempts to make use of Shireen's looks. While Tyrion proposes that Axell Florent could be claimed to be the father of his niece Selyse's daughter because she has the characteristic big ears of House Florent, Lord Petyr Baelish prevails with his suggestion that Patchface being the father of Shireen would make for a more juicy tale, referring to them looking as somewhat alike with their speckled, half-frozen faces and also to the fool being close to the girl. The rumor, strongly supported by Cersei, is meant to be spread via prostitutes in Petyr Baelish's brothels and with the help of Varys through alehouses and pot-shops.
A Storm of Swords[]
Shireen often plays with her cousin, Edric Storm, in Aegon's Garden and grows very fond of him. Davos Seaworth notes that Shireen is much happier around Edric. Stannis's army and retinue leaves for the Wall to respond to the wildling threat. He leaves Shireen at Eastwatch with her mother, while his army marches to Castle Black.
A Dance with Dragons[]
Shireen and her mother are eventually brought to Castle Black. The girl is intrigued by the giant Wun Wun. Val is frightened of Shireen due to her appearance with greyscale and tells Lord Commander Jon Snow that the child is not clean and should be killed. Jon is horrified by Val's statement and is grateful that Queen Selyse and her men did not hear it.