The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (2000)
The Princess Diaries directed by Garry Marshall (2001)
This is about Mia, a 15 year old in the US, who finds out she is the heir to the throne of Genovia. She does not want to be a princess but concedes to go to “princess lessons” taught by her grandmother who is the queen. Through the story she learns important lessons about friendship, responsibility, and loyalty.
I will be getting right into the plot which means there will be spoilers for this whole video.
Mia’s dad
In the book Mia’s dad is alive and she has a relationship with him even though he lives in Genovia. She knows he is wealthy and that her grandmother is rich and important, but she has no idea that they are queen and prince. Her father gets cancer, which leaves him infertile and since he won’t have the chance to have any other children, this now leaves Mia as the only heir. He and the grandmother come to the US to tell Mia, and the grandmother begins the lessons which Mia’s father bribes her into doing.
In the movie, Mia’s dad had died a few months prior. She didn’t have much of a relationship with him though he would send her birthday gifts. Her grandmother she had never met before, but after the father’s death, this leaves Mia as the only heir. So then Grandmother Clarisse comes ot the US to break the news to her.
Mia’s grandmother
Clarisse is her grandmother and in the movie, this is her first time ever meeting her but in the book she would go to Genovia during summers and she knew her. In the book she doesn’t like her grandmother and they never bond too much, Clarisse always seems to be in queen mode and never really opens up to Mia. Though in the end, there is this guy who pretends to be blind in order to get women to help him cross the street, but then he will use the opportunity to grope them. This happens to Clarisse at the very end, and she hits him for it which was a humanizing moment for her. I thought this was in bad taste though because this guy who gropes women and girls (Mia is only 14 in the book and she says this has happened to her) is played for laughs.
Also in the book and movie, someone notifies the press that Mia is a princess and reporters are swarming the school because of it. In the book, it is the grandmother! In the movie, it was the guy who gave Mia a makeover.
In the movie is certainly doesn’t hurt that Clarisse is played by the great Julie Andrews, but she comes across so regal while also having a warmth about her which we see throughout the film. The movie also has the scene when she cancel’s her days plans so that Mia can take her to her favorite spots which was a fun scene. In the end of the movie, Clarisse also confides in Mia that she was a lot like Mia when she was young. So Clarisse has many more humanizing, sweet, and vulnerable moments.
The movie also adds the romance between her and Joe the body guard which I liked a lot. Apparently this hadn’t been in the script, but the two actors had the thought to include this saying it is important to show romance at older ages.
Her fight with Lily
In the book she doesn’t tell Lily she is a princess, and it isn’t until everyone else knows that Lily finds out. Prior to finding out, Lily breaks of their friendship when Lily is giving Mia a hard time about her new look, but also how she always is busy with her family and has no time to help Lily with her show. Mia yells at Lily, and Lily stops talking to her. Even when news of her being a princess comes out, Lily still doesn’t talk to her.
It isn’t until the school dance, Mia shows up with Josh (who is drunk) and he had called the reporters so they are out front and he forces himself on Mia for the press. Once inside, Mia confronts him about it and says how he knows nothing about her and hasn’t even tried to get to know her. She is a vegetarian yet he ordered her a steak when they went ot dinner and when tells him she doesn’t eat meat he doesn’t even care. After telling him off she goes to the bathrooms, and while in there, Lily comes in and they make up.
While not being friends with Lily, Mia had started sitting with another girl who comes to school with a bodyguard (because in the book the Genovian body guard/driver follows Mia around in school) and she and this girl become friends. And in the end, all three are friends.
In the movie, she and Lily have an argument, but then Mia tells her about being a princess and so they never have a time where they don’t talk. But in the movie, she says she will be on Lily’s show, but then forgets about it and this hurts their friendship but ultimately all is well.
I gotta say though, in both, Lily judges Mia for how she looks ger her makeover. But it’s hypocritical because they say the popular pretty kids judge them for not looking as good, yet Lily judges the popular pretty girls for their own looks. So when Mia starts looking pretty, Lily instantly judges her.
Other differences
Mia accepting her role as princess was a bigger deal in the movie, with there being a dinner then a ball where she will be introduced to the press. The ball scene is dramatic because she had been going to run away, but then finds a letter her dad had written to her and it convinces her to agree to be princess and she gets to the ball and gives a speech while being soaking wet. She then gets changed into her gown later on into a beautiful gown. The book doesn’t have these scenes. It just ends with her being okay with everything and happy that everything seems to be working out in life.
In both her mom starts dating one of her teachers but this was focused on much more in the book.
In both Lily’s brother has a crush on Mia and in the book, he will tutor her in math but in the movie his thing is playing in a band and helping Mia repair an old mustang. In both, in the end she realizes his feelings for her and they kind of start dating.
In the book, Lily is working on a story about how an Asian deli gives discounts to Asian customers and she wants to call them out and stop their “racism”. This was so dumb and it isn’t surprising that this didn’t make it in the movie. Also, in the book Lily has rich parents who fund her show which costs $200 per episode to make.
Book vs Movie
The changes the movie made make this story not only more heartfelt and fun, but it also just makes more sense. Like having her dad be dead and that side of the family being people she knows nothing about, versus the book where she would give visit Genovia and yet was too dense to realize they were royalty? She is only 14 so maybe it’s believable but I still prefer how the movie handles this.
I didn’t love the writing style of this book and even though it was short, it took me nearly a week to read because I just did not care lol. In my Time Traveler’s Wife video I said I don’t usually like books narrated from a kids perspective, and this is true. But that’s not to say there have not been ones I have liked-Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in narrated by teenagers and I love those books, Are You There God it’s Me Margaret? is narrated by an 11 year old and I liked that. But yeah, here, I did not like the voice of Mia that comes through in the writing and I was not connecting with her.
So the movie wins by a longshot and I would not recommend the book at all. This was Anne Hathaway’s first movie role, prior to this she had been on one season of a tv show. Very impressive how her first role she played the lead and from there she has had an amazing career!
ella enchanted and mary poppin