Genovia will have to carry on without one of its most beloved royals.
Julie Andrews has confirmed that she will not return as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in the upcoming third installment of The Princess Diaries franchise, bringing an end to hopes that the legendary actress might reunite with Anne Hathaway for another royal adventure.
Andrews, now 90, believes the time has come for the series to move forward with Hathaway’s Mia Thermopolis at the center of the story. More than two decades have passed since audiences last saw the pair together in Genovia, and Andrews views the next chapter as Mia’s story rather than her own.
It marks a significant change for a franchise built largely around the relationship between Mia and her formidable but loving grandmother.
The original Princess Diaries arrived in 2001 and helped launch Hathaway into movie stardom. She played an awkward San Francisco teenager whose life was turned upside down after discovering that she was heir to the throne of the fictional European kingdom of Genovia.
Andrews played Queen Clarisse, the grandmother tasked with preparing Mia for royal life. Their relationship provided much of the first movie’s humor and heart as Mia gradually learned that becoming a princess involved considerably more than wearing a tiara.
The pair reunited for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in 2004. That movie pushed Mia closer to the responsibilities of the throne and ultimately ended with Clarisse stepping aside and Mia becoming queen.
Now the fictional kingdom is preparing to open its doors again.
Hathaway confirmed in 2024 that another Princess Diaries movie was moving forward, although the project has taken time to develop. The actress has made clear that the creative team understands the expectations surrounding a franchise that has accumulated generations of fans since the original movie’s release.
Adele Lim is attached to direct the third installment, while Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot has expressed enthusiasm about a recent screenplay for the project.
Exactly how the new movie will address Clarisse’s absence remains to be seen. Andrews’ decision, however, gives the filmmakers a clear opportunity to move the franchise into a different stage of Mia’s life rather than simply recreating the dynamic of the earlier movies.
For longtime fans, a return to Genovia without Andrews will undoubtedly feel different. Queen Clarisse was not merely royal decoration. She was the character who introduced Mia, and audiences, to the strange rules, responsibilities and occasional absurdities of royal life.
But there is also something fitting about the transition.
Clarisse spent two movies preparing Mia to take her place. More than 20 years later, The Princess Diaries may finally be ready to discover what happens when Mia has to rule without her grandmother standing beside her.
