''The Princess Diaries'' is a series of

epistolary Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to: * Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles * Epistolary novel * Epistolary poem ...

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novels written by

Meg Cabot Meggin Patricia Cabot (born February 1, 1967) is an American novelist. She has written and published over 50 novels of young adult and adult fiction and is best known for her young adult series ''Princess Diaries'', which was later adapted by W ...

, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series revolves around Amelia 'Mia' Thermopolis, a teenager in New York who discovers that she is the princess of a small European principality called Genovia. The series follows Mia's life throughout high school in the 2000s and juggling regular teenage life with being a royal princess. The books are noted for containing many popular culture references from the 2000s that influence some of the plot. Meg Cabot quotes the series' inspiration on her website stating: "I was inspired to write ''The Princess Diaries'' when my mom, after the death of my father, began dating one of my teachers; they later went on to get married just as Mia's mom does in the book! I have always had a 'thing' for princesses (my parents used to joke that when I was smaller, I did a lot of insisting that my 'real' parents, the king and queen, were going to come get me soon, and that everyone had better start being a ''lot'' nicer to me) so I stuck a princess in the book just for kicks... and ''voilà''! The ''Princess Diaries'' was born."''The Princess Diaries'', Vol I
''Meg Cabot'' The latest published book in the series, '' The Princess Diaries, Volume XI: Royal Wedding'' was released in 2015 following the launch of a spin-off series for tweens. Mia's half-sister Olivia made her debut in '' From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess'', released in May 2015. A new book, The Quarantine Princess Diaries,New Princess Diaries novel coming in March 2023
Meg Cabot Blog is scheduled to be published in March 2023.

Setting

The series is set primarily in the Manhattan borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Some books take place in Genovia, a fictional European country. Genovia is a principality between France and Spain ruled by Mia's father, Prince Philippe Renaldi, and by Mia's grandmother, Dowager Princess Clarisse Renaldi.

Characters

Mia Thermopolis

Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia is the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the series. She is the daughter of Helen Thermopolis, a painter, and Philippe Renaldo, the crown prince of Genovia. Mia is also the current Princess Regent of Genovia. Mia is sometimes shy and has a down-to-earth personality, though on occasion Mia shows herself to be quite sarcastic and sly. Throughout the series she is very self-critical of herself, describing herself as flat-chested, taller than most girls at 5-foot-9, and with embarrassingly large feet. She also has a tendency to over-analyze things and worry too much. In Disney's ''The Princess Diaries'' 2001, Mia (who was portrayed by

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...

) is aged 15, unlicensed, and owns a 1965 Mustang. She has similar qualities, but her father dies two months prior to where the movie begins, and her last name is Renaldi instead of Renaldo. She lives in San Francisco instead of New York.

Clarisse Marie Grimaldi Renaldo, Dowager Princess of Genovia

Clarisse Maria was formally known as Clarisse Marie Grimaldi Renaldo, Dowager Princess of Genovia. Clarisse is the

dowager A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a "dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchy, monarchical and aristocracy, aristocratic Title#Aristocr ...

princess of Genovia and Mia's paternal grandmother. Mia refers to her as "Grand-mère" (French for "Grandmother"). As a young woman, she married Prince Rupert Renaldi and had two sons. She speaks French most of the time, but she can also speak English; however, she disdains English as a vulgar language. She is almost always accompanied by her miniature poodle, Rommel, who is notable for having a severe case of OCD that causes him to lick his own fur off. She smokes often and enjoys drinking

sidecars A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

. She is not hesitant about lying or manipulating others in order to get her own way.

Lilly Moscovitz

Mia's best friend since kindergarten, Lilly is a highly intelligent and opinionated person who has her own

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

show, titled ''Lilly Tells It Like It Is'', in which she discusses political and social issues. By the end of the series, her TV show is picked up by a network and is apparently very popular in South Korea. Lilly is not considered to be very pretty; Mia often describes her face as being "squashed in like a pug's". However, she has a well-developed figure. In the 2001 Disney Movie, Lilly, portrayed by

Heather Matarazzo Heather Christina Marie Matarazzo (born November 10, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was Dawn Wiener in the film '' Welcome to the Dollhouse'' (1995). She played Lilly in ''The Princess Diaries'' (2001) and '' The Princess Di ...

, is portrayed as intelligent, confident, and socially conscious. Her talk show is called "Shut Up and Listen". She is then a student at Berkeley. In The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Mia appoints Lilly as her royal secretary.

Michael Moscovitz

Lilly's older brother, and Mia's main love interest throughout the series. Michael has brown eyes and thick, dark hair and is tall. Mia insists that he is the third best-looking guy at AEHS after Josh Richter and Justin Baxendale and describes his nose as aquiline, mouth as "eminently kissable", and neck as

aroma An odor (American English) or odour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their se ...

tic due to an intoxicating blend of

Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

from his shirt collar, his

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

shaving foam, and Ivory soap. Though he often clashes with his younger sister, Michael and Lilly are in fact close siblings and friends. He used to run his own

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...

, ''Crackhead,'' but had to disband it after an editorial stating the merits of

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

over Windows, which caused a loss of advertisers and funds. Shortly after this, Michael starts a band called

Skinner Box An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner box) is a laboratory apparatus used to study animal behavior. The operant conditioning chamber was created by B. F. Skinner while he was a graduate student at Harvard University. The cham ...

(a name suggested by Mia) with a few friends, including Boris Pelkowski.

Tina Hakim Baba

A student at AEHS, Tina is the daughter of a

Saudi Arabian Saudis ( ar, سعوديون, Suʿūdiyyūn) are people identified with the country of Saudi Arabia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. The Saudis are composed mainly of Arabs and primarily speak a regional dialect ...

oil sheik and a British former

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the po ...

. Because of her father's status, she has to have the protection of a

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

, Wahim, which isolates her from the other students until Mia sits with her after a fight with Lilly in the first novel.

Secondary characters

* Lars van der Hooten: Mia's very protective Swedish

. * Helen Thermopolis: Mia's mother. She has a career as an artist and spends most of her time in her studio. * Frank Gianini: Mia's algebra and homeroom teacher. He dates her mother, Helen, and marries her when she becomes pregnant with Mia's half-brother, Rocky. * John Paul "J.P." Reynolds Abernathy IV: Initially known as "The Guy Who Hates It When They Put Corn In the Chili", J.P. meets Mia via Grand-mère's school musical in ''Party Princess''. * Boris Pelkowski: A

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

violin

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

, and Lilly's boyfriend. His habits include tucking his sweater into his pants, breathing through his mouth, and playing the violin in Gifted and Talented class, when everyone else wants him to be quiet. * Josh Richter: Lana Weinberger's boyfriend. He is on the crew team and is co-

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

. * Lana Weinberger: A popular junior cheerleader with long blonde hair, a peaches-and-cream complexion, baby blue eyes and a voluptuous figure

Volumes

*''

The Princess Diaries ''The Princess Diaries'' is a series of epistolary young adult novels written by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series revolves around Amelia 'Mia' Thermopolis, a teenager in New York who discovers ...

The Quarantine Princess Diaries ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', coming March 2023 New Princess Diaries novel coming in March 2023
Meg Cabot Blog Illustrated by Chelsey McLaren: * ''Princess Lessons'', March 2003 * ''Perfect Princess'', March 2004 * ''Holiday Princess'', November 2005 *Ransom My Heart by Princess of Genovia Mia Thermopolis

Awards and nominations

* 2001

American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

* 2001 American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers * 2001

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

Book for the Teen Age * 2002

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialo ...

/ Children's Book Council Young Adults' Choice * 2002–2003 Volunteer State Book Award (

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

) * 2003 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award (

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

)

Adaptations

In 2001 and 2004 respectively, two films based on the novels were produced by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

, ''

'' and '' The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement'' starring

and

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

respectively as Mia Thermopolis and Clarisse Renaldi. Cabot has thanked the films many times in interviews and on her website because she believes that they helped boost her book sales, as well as making her the success that she is today. The first season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

adult animated An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series ''

Q-Force ''Q-Force'' is an American adult animated comedy series on Netflix. In April 2019, Netflix ordered 10 episodes of the series, with Gabe Liedman as a showrunner, along with Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and others as executive producers. It was r ...

'' features

Stephanie Beatriz Stephanie Beatriz Bischoff Alvizuri (born February 10, 1981) is an American actress, model and singer. She is known for playing Detective Rosa Diaz in the Fox/NBC comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (2013–2021), and voicing protagonist Mi ...

as Mira Popadopolous, based on Mia Thermopolis, whose backstory adapts the events of ''The Princess Diaries''.

References

* Cabot, Meg (2001)
''The Princess Diaries''
New York, New York.

HarperTrophy HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

. . * Cabot, Meg (2006)
''The Princess Diaries, Volume VII: Party Princess''
New York, New York.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. .

Footnotes

External links

Official site of Meg Cabot

Official site of Mia Thermopolis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Diaries Book series introduced in 2000 American young adult novels Young adult novel series Fictional diaries HarperCollins books Vegetarianism in fiction