What does ‘passenger princess’ mean on TikTok?

TikTok has an affinity for plucking older songs out of obscurity and giving them a resurgence in popularity, often by creating new trends and memes that use the music as a soundtrack. These trending videos can range from high-effort edits to absurd one-take content but one thing’s for sure: As long as TikTok’s around (though its fate is honestly still up in the air), there will be no shortage of new trends and confusing memes to discover.

One such confusing new trend regards the phrase “passenger princess,” which is only going to sound familiar if you’re as chronically online as I am. This new meme assumes its viewers have a previous understanding of the phrase so if you stumble across it without that knowledge, you’re gonna be confused. Let’s get you up to speed.

What is a Passenger Princess?

The term passenger princess refers to someone who rarely drives, instead preferring to be driven. Generally, a passenger princess’s significant other drives them around whenever they’re together and the passenger princess will instead choose to post up in the passenger seat (hence “passenger” princess). Being automobile royalty — I’m running out of ways to say passenger princess so please bear with me — is not just about sitting in the front seat; originally, the term just referred to a girl who had no intention of learning to drive but now, it’s a lifestyle (or at least an aesthetic).

For at least a year or so, creators would post TikToks of them throwing their things, usually luxury items, into the car’s cup holders before choosing what music to play and adjusting the temperature to their liking. It’s obviously a little tongue-in-cheek but being a passenger princess has become a “thing” on the internet. But how has it become a meme?

Explaining the passenger princess meme

Recently, a trend set to the song “Don’t” by Bryson Tiller has been making the rounds on TikTok. In the videos, the person filming has a picture of a luxury car dashboard open on a laptop with their hand on “the wheel.” The camera will then pan to their “passenger princess” who might be holding a phone meant to mimic the passing by of scenery in a car window. These videos are set to the lyrics “Pull up, Skrrt/ Get in the ride/ Left hand is steering the other is gripping your thigh” and usually, the person filming will pan down to grab the passenger princess’ thigh, though this is usually played up for comedic effect.

“Don’t” was released in 2015 but the earliest videos that follow the meme format were posted in March of this year. The videos gained more popularity after one iteration showed the creator breaking their school laptop’s screen while filming the TikTok (the top comment is “when i opened it, it was like that”). While this is definitely more of a short-lived meme in my opinion, there’s still time to jump on the trend and make your own videos. Or, in true passenger princess style, just watch the existing ones and enjoy the ride.