Los Angeles [US], August 13 (ANI): Actress Julie Andrews has confirmed that she will not reprise her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in ‘The Princess Diaries 3’, saying the upcoming film is focused on Princess Mia’s story, according to People.
Andrews, 90, played Queen Clarisse alongside Anne Hathaway in the first two films, 2001’s “The Princess Diaries” and 2004’s “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”, according to People.
Asked about details of the third film in an interview, Andrews said, “I’m not going to be in it.”
“I think the story is slightly different, and I’m not quite sure how they’re dealing with that. But it’s too late for me to do it. I think the story has to continue in Princess Mia. It’s her story. It’s not really mine,” she added.
In the original films, Hathaway, 43, played Mia Thermopolis, a teenager living in San Francisco who discovers that she is the heir to the throne of Genovia. Queen Clarisse, the mother of Mia’s late father, helps transform Mia into a princess.
Mia eventually accepts her role as heir but insists on doing things her own way. In the second film, she learns that Genovian law requires her to marry before becoming queen. Her plans for a loveless but kind marriage change when she falls for Nicholas Devereaux, played by Chris Pine, according to People.
At the end of the film, Mia convinces parliament to change the law, allowing her to become an unmarried queen, and she and Nicholas declare their love. Clarisse steps down and marries Joe, played by Hector Elizondo, as Mia takes the crown.
Andrews had previously expressed doubts about returning to the franchise. In 2022, she told Access Hollywood that another film was “probably not going to be possible,” according to People.
“I think we know that it’s probably not going to be possible. It was talked about very shortly after [the second sequel] came out, but it’s now how many years since then? And I am that much older and Annie the princess, or queen, is so much older. And I am not sure where it would float or run,” she said, according to People.
In 2024, Andrews told that sometimes “it’s best to leave a good thing alone,” adding, “I don’t like it when people milk and milk and milk the subject, you know, ’til it’s dead.”
Still, she said, “I’d be very happy if we did do another one. But I don’t expect to.”
Hathaway provided an update on “The Princess Diaries 3” in July during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Radio Andy”. She said the team had experienced a “story breakthrough” and was “moving in the right direction,” according to People.
“I think we are moving in the right direction. The script that we were working on — we kind of had to start over with this new direction, which is not the update I think anybody wants, but we all feel really good that this is gonna be the one,” Hathaway said.
However, Hathaway, who is currently pregnant with her third child, said that pregnancy had made it difficult to know exactly when she would be able to make the film.
In June, Meg Cabot, author of the original “The Princess Diaries” book series, told The Hollywood Reporter that she had read an early script and described it as “amazing”.
It remains unclear which other characters from the franchise will return, including Pine, Mia’s best friend Lilly Moscovitz, played by Heather Matarazzo, and Lilly’s brother and Mia’s love interest in the first film, Michael Moscovitz, played by Robert Schwartzman.
Schwartzman, 43, told People in 2025 that he had had “early” conversations about returning to the franchise, although he has increasingly focused on directing and producing.
The first two films were directed by Garry Marshall, who died in 2016 at the age of 81. Adele Lim, who co-wrote “Crazy Rich Asians” and directed “Joy Ride”, is attached to direct the third instalment.
While Andrews will not return to “The Princess Diaries 3”, she will be the subject of a new Disney documentary scheduled for next year.
“I’m a little nervous,” Andrews told about the documentary. “But I figure at this age of mine now, it’s probably the time to have agreed to do it.”
Andrews first rose to fame on stage in “My Fair Lady”, playing Eliza Doolittle from 1956. She later starred in the 1957 television special of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”, winning an Emmy for the role, according to People.
In 1964, she starred as Mary Poppins in Disney’s “Mary Poppins”, earning an Academy Award for Best Actress. A year later, she received another Oscar nomination for playing Maria von Trapp in “The Sound of Music”.
Her other credits include “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, “Victor/Victoria”, “Shrek 2”, “Shrek Forever After”, “Despicable Me” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru”. Since 2020, she has voiced Lady Whistledown in “Bridgerton”.
Andrews is also an author and has written several books with her daughter Emma Walton. Their latest book, “Shy”, illustrated by Eva Byrne, was released on August 11 by Abrams Books for Young Readers.
The book follows a timid puppy adopted from a shelter who finds her voice with the help of her piano-playing owner. Andrews said the story was inspired by her own dog, Shy.
“It was an adorable dog, a little poodle, and her name was Shy, and I could not sit at the piano and practice without her eventually joining in,” she told People. “She could actually roll down the scale with me, and it was enchanting, but I couldn’t get anything done when I was practicing,” according to People.
Reflecting on her long career, Andrews told People, “It’s very pleasant at my age to be needed and embraced because I love doing it. So there you are. I have a sign over my kitchen door [that reads] ‘Are we lucky or what?’ And I feel that and have done most of my life.”
“It is the secret to love what you do. And it doesn’t take away the hard work and the cursing when it doesn’t go right,” she added. “But to love it all, then and in retrospect is lovely, really. To keep focusing on the joy of it. It’s all about the giving,” according to People. (ANI)
(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)