The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a 2004 American romantic comedy film and the sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries. Unlike the first film, this film is not based on any of the books.

The Princess Diaries 2:
Royal Engagement
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGarry Marshall
Produced by
Screenplay byShonda Rhimes
Story by
  • Shonda Rhimes
  • Gina Wendkos
Based onCharacters
by Meg Cabot
Starring
Music byJohn Debney
CinematographyCharles Minsky
Edited byBruce Green
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11)
Running time
113 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[2]
Box office$134.7 million[3]

Most of the cast returned from the first film, including Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Héctor Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Larry Miller. Garry Marshall returned to direct and Debra Martin Chase to produce. New characters include Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies), Lord Nicholas Devereaux (Chris Pine), and Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue).

Despite being met with near-universal critical disdain, the film had a worldwide box office of $134.7 million.[4]

Plot

Five years after the first film, Mia Thermopolis has just graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and is returning to Genovia with her bodyguard, Joe. There, she will await her reign once her grandmother, Queen Clarisse, abdicates. During Mia's 21st birthday party, she dances with all the eligible bachelors in hope of finding a husband. She becomes attracted to a handsome gentleman named Nicholas. During the course of the night, Mia's tiara falls off and is caught by a Member of Parliament, Viscount Mabrey, who secretly plans to steal Mia's crown. While the Parliament is in session the next morning, Mia stumbles upon a hidden room that allows her to secretly listen in. Viscount Mabrey reveals his nephew, Lord Devereaux, is another heir to the Genovian throne. Despite Queen Clarisse's objection, the only way Mia can assume her duties as Queen is if she marries within the month. Clarisse invites Lord Devereaux to stay at the palace, while Mia is shocked to discover Lord Devereaux is actually Nicholas. Mia's best friend, Lilly Moscovitz, surprises her by visiting. Together, they pick through potential husbands. Mia eventually chooses Andrew Jacoby, Duke of Kenilworth, and days later, they are engaged. Mabrey plans to have Nicholas seduce Mia and dissolve the engagement. This attempt fails, though the two have an argument while in a broom closet together. Joe tries to persuade Clarisse to publicly pursue their feelings for each other as her reign as queen is coming to an end.

For a ceremony, Mia is to ride sidesaddle, but is inexperienced. Queen Clarisse provides an ancestral wooden leg decoy to make it look like she's riding sidesaddle. Mabrey spooks Mia's horse with a rubber snake, and Joe rushes to her aid, accidentally tearing off the wooden leg. Humiliated, Mia flees to the stables, where Nicholas fails to comfort her. At a garden party, Mia and Nicholas quarrel about Mia's relationship with Andrew; Nicholas tricks Mia into admitting she doesn't love Andrew. Frustrated, she argues, but instead gets bombarded by a kiss. At first, she kisses him back but then backs away. Nicholas pursues her, which causes both of them to fall into a fountain. Queen Clarisse finally tells Mia that her behavior with Nicholas needs to stop.

During the Genovian Independence Day parade, Mia sees some boys harassing a little girl, and, realizing that the boys’ harassment of the girl was similar to how Nicholas and Mabrey have been trying to steal her own crown, abruptly halts the parade to comfort the girl. Learning that the girl, Carolina, and the other children are orphans, Mia has a vendor give them all tiaras and lets them walk with her in the parade. Everyone is impressed by her act of generosity, while Mabrey sees it as a political maneuver. However, Nicholas as well is impressed by Mia’s care for Genovia and begins to have second thoughts about taking over the throne. Mia later decides to convert one of the royal palaces into a temporary children's center. That night, Mia has her bachelorette party, inviting princesses from around the world, where Queen Clarisse surfs on a mattress and sings a duet with Princess Asana, one of Mia's good friends. In the meantime, Nicholas attempts to convince his uncle to stop their pursuit of the throne after realizing how well Mia is doing as a ruler. It is in this conversation that Mabrey realizes Nicholas has fallen for Mia, but Nicholas says that Mia will never love him. However, Mabrey seemingly allows Nicholas to pursue Mia, later revealing to his surly and mistreated housekeeper Gretchen that he plans to let this ruin Mia’s chances of becoming queen. It is also revealed that he has been manipulating Nicholas as well, trying to fool him into thinking that it was his late father’s wish to become Genovia’s king. Nicholas comes upon Mia as she is practicing her archery as part of her coronation rites. He helps her succeed in getting the arrow to hit the bullseye, something she had been struggling with. Nicholas then informs Mia that he is leaving, but asks to see her just one more time before he goes. She declines, saying she is under close guard.

That night, Nicholas appears outside Mia's window and asks her to come out. Lilly encourages her to go, and Mia sneaks out. They ride out to a lake where they share secrets, dance, and eventually fall asleep. They awaken to find a man in a boat videotaping them. Mia thinks Nicholas set her up, while he insists he had no idea. By the time Mia returns to the palace, the scandalous footage is already being broadcast. Andrew is disappointed and kisses Mia to see if there is a romantic spark between them. They realize that they do not love each other, but do not call off the wedding for the good of Genovia. The wedding is to take place the following day, and Mia's mother, Helen, comes with her new husband Patrick, and their newborn son Trevor. Nicholas decides against attending, but Gretchen informs him that Mabrey engineered their televised scandal.

Before the wedding, Joe informs Mia that Nicholas is innocent. While walking up the aisle Mia suddenly stops and charges out of the church. Queen Clarisse follows and Mia says she doesn't want to marry because of the law. Clarisse encourages Mia to follow her heart, something she has never done and has now cost her Joe, the only man she truly loved. Mia reenters the church, and after pointing out how her grandmother has ruled Genovia while unmarried for a number of years, she tells the members of parliament in the audience to consider the significant women in their lives and questions if they would have them do what they're trying to force her to do (marry someone she does not love). Mabrey cites the law again and once again suggests that his nephew be named King, but just then, Nicholas not only refuses the crown, but also disowns Mabrey as his uncle. Mia proposes the law on royal marriages be abolished, and the Parliament unanimously gives its assent. Encouraged by Mia to have her own happy ending, Clarisse proposes to Joe and they are promptly married.

About a week later, Mia is preparing for her coronation when Nicholas arrives at the palace. He professes his love for Mia on bended knee, and they share a private loving kiss. The next day, Queen Clarisse finally steps down, and Mia is crowned "Her Majesty Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi, Queen of Genovia", with all in attendance in the royal palace.

An epilogue shows that Genovian Parliament now allows female members, one of whom is Charlotte (Clarisse's lady-in-waiting). In a final scene, Queen Mia officially opens a new children's home with the help of Carolina.

Cast

Reception

The film opened in 3,472 theaters in North America and grossed $23 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $134.7 million worldwide—$95.2 million in North America and $39.6 million in other territories.[5]

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film had a 26% "certified rotten" rating, with an average score of 4.5/10 based on 120 critical reviews. The site's general consensus is that "Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews bring charm and elegance to the movie, but there's not enough material for them to work with in this sequel."[6] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, it has an average score of 43 from the 31 reviews, which indicates "Mixed or average reviews".[7]

The film's writer, Shonda Rhimes, later said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews.[8]

Soundtrack

The song, "Your Crowning Glory", a duet between Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) and Princess Asana (Raven-Symoné) was the first time Andrews had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997.

Future

In March 2016, Garry Marshall announced plans for a third Princess Diaries film, with Hathaway reprising her role.[9] When Marshall died in July 2016, the project had been shelved indefinitely.[10] In August of the same year, Hector Elizondo discussed development of the third installment stating, "I know Anne would like to do it. I know Julie would like to do it. I would like to do it. So we're on board, it's a question of when and a question of getting a good story. I'm ready! It's time to go back to Genovia!"[11]

In May 2018, Anne Hathaway stated that she would still like to appear in a third Princess Diaries film.[10] By January 2019, she confirmed that a script is completed and that she and Andrews are currently on board to co-star in the film and producer Debra Martin Chase will return. She further stated that the film will not enter production until "it's perfect".[12]

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References
  1. "The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement (U)". British Board of Film Classification. August 18, 2004. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  2. "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)". The Numbers. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  3. "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  4. "Spencer Breslin - Box Office". The Numbers.
  5. "The Princess Diaries". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  6. "The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  7. "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  8. Staff, Hollywood.com (February 10, 2015). "Shonda Rhimes - Biography and Filmography - 1970".
  9. "Director Garry Marshall confirms Anne Hathaway is ready to film Princess Diaries 3". Metro.co.uk. March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  10. "Anne Hathaway says it felt good to play bad in Ocean's 8". Entertainment Weekly. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018. Yeah, I'm game if Disney's game. I think there's more life in that story. We were talking about it and then we lost [director] Garry Marshall, and I think we all just needed to walk away for a while because the grief was too fresh. We haven't restarted the conversation yet but I still have hope in my heart that it could happen.
  11. "'The Princess Diaries 3' Could Still Happen, According to Hector Elizondo". Movie Fone. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  12. "Anne Hathaway says 'we're working on' a third Princess Diaries film". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
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