5-year-old with autism thinks bride is Cinderella – and she’s as sweet as a princess

Little girls probably all have one thing in common: they love fairy tales, and princesses in particular.

Who doesn’t dream about growing up to become a real princess when they’re a child?

The fairy tale world is certainly a fascination for 5-year-old Layla Lester, who is autistic. But that doesn’t prevent her from dreaming big — so it’s no wonder Layla is such a big fan of Disney movies.

As is typical of individuals with her condition, Layla is not always comfortable interacting with others.

So when she ran up to a bride taking photos with her husband in a park one day, everyone was stunned.

But as it turns out, Layla thought the bride, Olivia Spark, was a Disney princess: Cinderella to be exact. Cinderella of course, is no stranger to the little girl — in fact she has always wanted to meet her. That tore all her filters down and Layla enthusiastically ran towards a surprised Olivia.

Already on her emotional wedding day, Olivia was incredibly touched by sweet Layla’s mistake. She graciously interrupted her photo shoot with her very own ‘prince charming’ to greet and spend time with Layla.

“I was flattered. I was like in tears that she thought I was a real princess,” Olivia said.

But it turns out that Olivia is indeed a princess, at least in theory. When Olivia got her wedding pictures, she remembered little Layla and decided she wanted to share the wonderful photos with her. So she tracked her young new friend down.

She soon arranged to visit Layla and her mom, bringing gifts along — and ending with another fairy tale experience. They all sat together in Cinderella’s very own pumpkin carriage and took photos.

“She is the epitomy of what a real life princess would be — she’s kind and she’s sweet,” Layla’s mother Jessica Lester said.

Watch sweet Layla and wonderful Olivia’s interaction in the video below. How sweet is this?

I couldn’t agree more with Layla’s mom: Olivia is a real-life princess. The sweet bride took time out of what must have been a very emotional and possibly stressful day to sweetly greet a little girl with special needs.

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