The Happy Prince is a studio album by the New Zealand rock band the La De Da's, released in June 1969.

In early 1967, while preparing for their second album, bassist Trevor Wilson anticipated an era when rock music would be taken seriously as an art form.

Fresh from their recent trip to England, decked out in the latest Carnaby Street gear, The Twilights were currently wowing local audiences with their famous note-perfect live renditions of the entire Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

Seeing them gave Howard and Wilson's plan to realise the Happy Prince project added impetus, although they knew it was something they probably wouldn't be able to achieve in Australia.

Their look and sound become more psychedelic, augmenting their stage setup with exotic and varied instrumentation like organ, electric piano, saxophone, sitar, flute, mandolin, cello and even bagpipes.

Jimmy Stewart, expatriate English producer behind Melbourne band Pastoral Symphony's one-off hit "Love Machine", had recently set up a new independent label, Sweet Peach.

This was a major disappointment for the band, who had worked for several months to arrange and rehearse the piece, and the failure of the deal was a massive letdown for Trevor Wilson.