The Royal Diaries is a series of 20 books published by Scholastic Press from 1999 to 2005. In each of the books, a fictional diary of a real female figure of royalty as a child throughout world history was written by the author. The Royal Diaries was a spin-off of Scholastic's popular Dear America series. While Dear America, My Name Is America , and My America were all cancelled in 2004, The Royal Diaries continued until 2005.
Unlike Dear America, which consisted of diaries of young girls living during pivotal periods in American history, The Royal Diaries is a series that features women of royalty from all over the world. The series is fictional, though it involves real historical figures. Facts and images concerning the historical figure featured in the book are given at the end of each of the books.
The Royal Diaries has covered many famous women in royalty, including Jahanara, Marie Antoinette, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, Isabella I of Castile, Cleopatra VII, the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, Catherine the Great, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and Queen Victoria. The series has also covered less known women, such as Queen Seondeok of Silla, Anacaona of the Taínos, Weetamoo of the Pocassets, the Lady of Ch'iao Kuo of the Hsien, the Lady of Palenque of the Mayans, and Nzingha of Ndongo. It also covers the life and customs of these women. The target age for these books is nine to twelve.
| Release date | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Kathryn Lasky | Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544 |
| Kristiana Gregory | Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. [1] | |
| 2000 | Carolyn Meyer | Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 |
| Kathryn Lasky | Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France 1769 | |
| Carolyn Meyer | Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 | |
| Patricia McKissack | Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 | |
| 2001 | Ellen Emerson White | Kaiulani: The People's Princess, Hawaii, 1889 |
| Laurence Yep | Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, Southern China, 531 A.D. | |
| Anna Kirwan | Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England, 1829 | |
| 2002 | Kathryn Lasky | Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553 [2] |
| Sheri Holman | Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, 595 A.D. | |
| Kathryn Lasky | Jahanara: Princess of Princesses, India, 1627 | |
| Kristiana Gregory | Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, France, 1136 | |
| 2003 | Barry Denenberg | Elisabeth: The Princess Bride, Austria-Hungary, 1853 |
| Carolyn Meyer | Kristina: The Girl King, Sweden, 1638 | |
| Patricia Clark Smith | Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts–Rhode Island, 1653 | |
| 2004 | Anna Kirwan | Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal, Mesoamerica, A.D. 749 |
| Kathryn Lasky | Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan, 1858 | |
| 2005 | Edwidge Danticat | Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490 |
| Kristiana Gregory | Catherine: The Great Journey, Russia, 1743 |
Following the Dear America series, in 2000, HBO created three TV films based on three of the Royal Diaries books: Elizabeth I, Isabel, and Cleopatra VII. Reruns of these adaptations later aired on Qubo. As of November 2025, they are available to stream on Tubi and The Roku Channel. [3] [4]
In November 2021, it was reported that Legendary Television and Scholastic Entertainment were developing a new adaptation for television. [5]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile" | Randy Bradshaw | Lori Lansens | September 9, 2000 | |
Cast includes Elisa Moolecherry as Cleopatra, Hrant Alianak as Pharaoh, David Calderisi as Marcus Cicero, Linda Gizirian as Tryphaina, Matthew Witherly as Marc Antony, Jan Filips as Julius Caesar, Larissa Gomes as Berenice, and Yani Gellman as Olympus. | |||||
| 2 | "Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor" | René Bonnière | Ann MacNaughton | November 4, 2000 | |
Cast includes Tamara Hope as Elizabeth, Daniel Clark as Robin Dudley, Marion Day as Mary, Jefferson Mappin as King Henry, Jennifer Wigmore as Queen Catherine, and Susan Sheridan as Jane the Bald. | |||||
| 3 | "Isabel: Jewel of Castilla" | William Fruet | Barbara O'Kelly | December 20, 2000 | |
Cast includes Lisa Jakub as Isabel, Cara Pifko as Catalina Valera, Christopher Ralph as Fernando, Ken Staines as Juan Pacheco, and Barna Moncz as Alphonso. | |||||
