A long time ago, a King and Queen celebrated the birth of their daughter, Briar Rose. They invited twelve fairies to her christening to bestow blessings, but a thirteenth fairy, long thought dead, was overlooked. Furious at the slight, she crashed the celebration and cursed the princess: on her sixteenth birthday, Briar Rose would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. The twelfth fairy softened the curse: the princess would not die, but fall into a deep sleep for one hundred years.
The King ordered all spinning wheels destroyed to protect his daughter. On her sixteenth birthday, while exploring a forgotten tower, Briar Rose encountered an old woman (the thirteenth fairy in disguise) at a spinning wheel. Curious, she touched the spindle, pricked her finger, and fell into a deep sleep. Instantly, the entire palace and all within it fell asleep, and a thick hedge of briar roses grew around the castle, sealing it off from the world.
For a century, princes tried and failed to penetrate the thorny hedge. When one hundred years had passed, a prince arrived. As he approached, the hedge bloomed with roses and parted for him. He found the silent palace and climbed to the tower, where he discovered the sleeping Briar Rose. He kissed her, breaking the spell. She awoke, and the entire palace stirred back to life. The prince and princess fell in love, were married, and lived happily ever after.