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 consists of 12 core novels, 4 novellas, and 4 companion novels. The series follows normal-American-teen-turned-royal Mia Thermopolis through her "diary" entries. The series originally concluded in 2009 with the tenth volume, but was revived in 2015 and 2023 with Royal Wedding and The Quarantine Princess Diaries, respectively. A spin-off series for younger audiences was launched in 2015, which follows Mia's younger half-sister, Olivia.
Premise The series revolves around Amelia "Mia" Thermopolis, a teenager in New York City 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 pop culture references from the 2000s that influence some of the plot.
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
Real-life figures that Cabot is speculated to have drawn inspiration from include Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (1898–1977), the illegitimate daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco who was later legitimized as his legal heiress and Jazmin Grace Grimaldi (1992–present), the illegitimate daughter of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, born and living in the United States. The fictional country the royal family belongs to shares geographical and cultural similarities with the Republic of Genoa, a historical republic.
Characters
Primary characters
Mia Thermopolis: Describes herself as a five-foot nine, flat chested, freshman, freak; also known as Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia. Mia loves to write, has a tendency to obsess over everything that happens to her, is a vegetarian, identifies as a feminist and is currently failing algebra and many other subjects. Grandmere: Mia's grandmother, who loves Sidecars, is highly critical of everyone around her. She has a hairless poodle, Rommel, and she calls Michael Moscovitz that boy. Her full name is The Dowager Princess Clarisse Renaldo. Mia and her Grandmother don't get along with each other for most of the story. Lilly Moscovitz: Mia's bossy activist best friend, who has her own television cable show, Lilly Tells It Like It Is. Michael Moscovitz: Lilly's older brother, who is extremely smart and according to Mia, is attractive. Also Mia's crush. Philippe Renaldo: Mia's royal father, who is the prince of Genovia. He had Mia out of wedlock, and is constantly annoyed by his domineering mother, has many girlfriends, and tells Mia that she is a princess after he is no longer able to have children because he had cancer. Tina Hakim-Baba: A girl whom Mia befriends throughout the novel. Her father is an oil man sheikh who is worried that she will get kidnapped. She originally is shunned because her overprotective father forces her to have a bodyguard (Wahim), but she and Mia quickly become close. Frank Gianini: Mia's algebra and homeroom teacher and he dates her mother, Helen. Mia grows to appreciate his after-school algebra review sessions, and though their relationship begins awkwardly, Mia and Mr. G seem to get along well. Lars: Mia's bodyguard. He follows her almost everywhere and lives in the Plaza. Has some serious blackmail on Mia, having followed her around everywhere. Fat Louie: Mia's very fat cat who is attracted to anything shiny.
Amelia "Mia" Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia Mia Thermopolis is the protagonist of the series. She is the teenage daughter of Helen Thermopolis, a painter, and Philippe Renaldo, the crown prince of Genovia. Mia learns she is the heir apparent of Genovia while she is a student at the fictional Albert Einstein High School in Manhattan.
Mia is sometimes shy and has a down-to-earth personality, though on occasion she shows herself to be quite sarcastic and sly. Throughout the series, she is very critical of herself, describing herself as flat-chested, taller than most girls at 5-foot-9, and having embarrassingly large feet. She also has a tendency to over-analyze and worry.
In the film series, some of Mia's external characteristics and life details are altered, but much of her core personality remains. She is portrayed by Anne Hathaway. Her last name was changed to Renaldi for the films.
Clarisse Mignonette Grimaldi Renaldo, Dowager Princess of Genovia Clarisse is the dowager 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 Renaldo and had one son. 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. She is not above lying or manipulating others in order to get her own way.
In the film series, Clarisse is portrayed by Julie Andrews and is characterized as more proper.
Lilly Moscovitz Mia's best friend since kindergarten, Lilly is a highly intelligent and opinionated person who has her own public-access television 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 film series, Lilly is portrayed by Heather Matarazzo. She is characterized as brash, rebellious, and socially conscious. Her talk show is called "Shut Up and Listen". In the second installment she is a student at Berkeley.
Michael Moscovitz Lilly's older brother, and Mia's main love interest throughout the series. Michael is tall and has brown eyes and thick, dark hair. 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 aromatic due to an intoxicating blend of Tide from his shirt collar, his Gillette 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, Crackhead, but had to disband it after an editorial stating the merits of Linux over Windows, which caused a loss of advertisers and funds. Shortly after this, Michael starts a band called Skinner Box (a name suggested by Mia) with a few friends, including Boris Pelkowski.
In the 2001 film, Michael is portrayed by Robert Schwartzman. While he is the main love interest in this film, they agree to just be friends and break up before the events of the 2004 sequel and he does not appear.
Secondary characters Lars van der Hooten: Mia's very protective Swedish bodyguard. In the films, his counterpart is stern-but-lovable head of security and driver Joe, portrayed by Héctor Elizondo. Helen Thermopolis: Mia's mother. She has a career as an artist and spends most of her time in her studio. In the films she is portrayed by Caroline Goodall. 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. His film counterpart is English teacher Patrick O'Connell, portrayed by Sean O'Bryan. Artur Christoff Phillipe Gerard Grimaldi Renaldo, Prince of Genovia: Mia's father and Clarisse's son. He had a brief tryst with Helen in college resulting in Mia's conception. He initially keeps Mia's royal status a secret from her, but learns due to testicular cancer he cannot have any more children, leaving Mia the heir. He does not appear directly in the film series as he passes prior to the events of the first film, but is heard through narration by René Auberjonois and portrayed in photos by Gerald Hathaway. Tina Hakim Baba: Mia's classmate and the daughter of a Saudi Arabian oil sheik and a British ex-supermodel. She has her own bodyguard, Wahim. Mia and Tina bond over their shared experience in isolation from their peers. John Paul "J.P." Reynolds Abernathy IV: Initially known as "The Guy Who Hates It When They Put Corn In the Chili", J.P. is a classmate who meets Mia through Grand-mère's school musical in Party Princess, eventually becoming her friend. J.P. and Mia date after Michael leaves for Japan, but break up after Mia finds out J.P. was using her. Boris Pelkowski: A Russian violin virtuoso, 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. Lana Weinberger: A popular junior cheerleader with long blonde hair, a peaches-and-cream complexion, baby blue eyes and a voluptuous figure. She is a main antagonist of the first film, in which her last name is Thomas and she is portrayed by Mandy Moore. Josh Richter: Lana Weinberger's boyfriend. He is on the crew team and is co-valedictorian. In the first film, he is Josh Bryant, popular student and Mia's crush, portrayed by Erik Von Detten.
Books in series