Henry Hardin's plot has been around for 107 years and his initial three methods are explained in The Art of Magic (1909). Card tricks of this kind were atypical when Hardin devised his trick. During his time, spectators physically picked cards. They seldom, if ever, mentally selected them. Because only five cards are used in "The Princess Card Trick," Hardin strengthened the challenge by finding the mental selection by tactile means while the five "possibilities" were in his pocket.

This is how the his trick appeared to audiences: Five cards are shown to a spectator who is asked to think of one of them. The cards are placed into the magician's pocket and then four cards are successively removed and tabled. The spectator is asked to name his selection, which turns out to be one remaining in the performer's pocket, which is finally removed and revealed.

Introduction
Looking Back...
Who Was Henry Hardin?
Early Explanations of the Hardin Version (1946)
The Improved "Princess" Card Trick
Improved Princess
Princess Card Trick (George Kaplan)
Dogging the Princess (Jon Racherbaumer)
People's Princess (Edward Marlo)
Spots Before Your Eyes (Edward Marlo)
After the Princess (Edward Marlo)
Pocket Princess (Roy Walton)
On Vernon's "Mental Card Miracle"
Princess Anytime (Anthony Brahams)
Surprising the Princess (Jon Racherbaumer)
Three-Card Princess (S. Leo Horowitz)