The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, it is the sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries. Unlike the first film, it is not based on any existing book, and has no relation to the second installment in the book series, The Princess Diaries, Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight. In the film, Mia Thermopolis learns that before she can succeed her grandmother as queen of Genovia, she must marry or else relinquish the throne.
The film grossed $135.3 million worldwide but received mixed to unfavorable reviews from critics. As of 2024, a sequel is in development, with Adele Lim attached as director.
Plot
The film picks up the plot five years after the events of the first film. Mia has returned to Genovia to assume the position of queen only to discover that a male heir exists, Lord Nicholas Deveraux, the nephew of the scheming Viscount Mabrey. In order to inherit the throne Mia must marry within the month, so Mia enters into an engagement with Andrew Jacoby, Duke of Kenilworth. Unwilling to accept this, Mabrey instructs Nicholas to seduce Mia so the engagement will fail.
Nicholas begins to successfully seduce Mia and the two begin to fall in love, something that is witnessed by both Mabrey as well as Mia's grandmother, Queen Clarisse. As the film continues Nicholas realizes that Mia would make an excellent queen and is more deserving of the throne than himself or his uncle. Aware that this would derail his plans, Mabrey manipulates Nicholas into believing that his father wanted Nicholas to become king. Two days before the wedding Nicholas convinces Mia to sneak out and join him for a night of fun. The next morning they awaken to find a man filming them, causing Mia to angrily accuse Nicholas of setting her up and leave. The footage is widely shared, prompting Andrew to realize that there is no romantic spark between him and Mia. The two decide to marry anyway the following day, for the good of Genovia.
Just before the wedding Mia learns that Nicholas was innocent and that the scandal was set up by Mabrey. Realizing that she does not want to enter into a loveless marriage, Mia halts the ceremony and runs out of the church. She is followed by Clarisse, who encourages her to follow her heart, something she never did, costing her Joe, the love of her life. Mia returns to the church and asks the members of Parliament to abolish the law on royal marriages, asking if they would force the significant women in their lives to marry without love. Despite protestations from Mabrey, Parliament unanimously assents. Clarisse proposes to Joe and they are promptly married.
A week later, Mia is preparing for her coronation when Nicholas arrives. Professing his love on bended knees, they kiss. The next day, Clarisse steps down, and Mia is crowned "Her Majesty Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi, Queen of Genovia", with all in attendance in the palace.
An epilogue shows the Genovian Parliament now allows female members, one of whom is Charlotte (Clarisse's lady-in-waiting). Queen Mia officially opens a new children's home with Carolina, an orphan she had helped earlier in the film.
The film's writer, Shonda Rhimes, said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews.[4] Andrews was later cast as the voice of Lady Whistledown in Rhimes' 2020 series, Bridgerton.[5]
Reception
Box office
The film opened in 3,472 theaters in North America and grossed $23 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $134.7 million worldwide—$95.2 million in North America and $39.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $135.3 million.[3]
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes 25% of 119 critic reviews are positive, with an average rating is 4.6/10. The site's critical consensus is that "Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews bring charm and elegance to the movie, but there's not enough material for them to work with in this sequel."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43/100 from the 31 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reception.[7]
The song, "Your Crowning Glory", a duet between Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) and Princess Asana (Raven-Symoné) was the first time Andrews had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997.[8]
Home media
The film was released on DVD and VHS on December 14, 2004.[2]
Sequel
In March 2016, Garry Marshall announced plans for a third Princess Diaries film, with Hathaway reprising her role.[9] When Marshall died in July 2016, the project was shelved.[10] In August of the same year, Hector Elizondo discussed the development of the third installment stating, "I know Anne would like to do it. I know Julie would like to do it. I would like to do it. So we're on board, it's a question of when and a question of getting a good story. I'm ready! It's time to go back to Genovia!"[11]
In May 2018, Anne Hathaway stated that she would still like to appear in a third Princess Diaries film.[10] By January 2019, she confirmed that a script was completed, that she and Andrews were on board to co-star in the film, and that producer Debra Martin Chase would return. She further stated that the film would not enter production until "it's perfect."[12]
On November 15, 2022, it was revealed that Disney was moving forward with a third Princess Diaries film. Though not confirmed to appear, the company is reportedly interested in bringing Hathaway back.[13] The following month, Andrews said that she did not see herself returning for a third film.[14] In April 2024, Hathaway revealed that development talks surrounding the sequel were "in a good place" but that there were no further announcements to be made yet.[15] In October 2024, Adele Lim had signed on as the film's director and Hathaway announced she will reprise the role of Mia.[16][17]
1 2 Piya Sinha-Roy (May 29, 2018). "Anne Hathaway says it felt good to play bad in Ocean's 8". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 30, 2025. Yeah, I'm game if Disney's game. I think there's more life in that story. We were talking about it and then we lost [director] Garry Marshall, and I think we all just needed to walk away for a while because the grief was too fresh. We haven't restarted the conversation yet but I still have hope in my heart that it could happen.
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