The Princess Diaries is a series of epistolary novels by Meg Cabot in the chick-lit and young-adult fiction genre, and the title of the first volume, published in 2000.
Meg Cabot quotes the series' inspiration on her website as: "I was inspired to write The Princess Diaries when my mom, after the death of my father, began dating one of my teachers, 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 little, 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." [1]
The books are noted for containing many popular culture references, which include singers, movies, and fads in modern culture. Many critics have taken unkindly to this form of storytelling. In response, Cabot wrote an English teacher into the book, Princess in Training, who criticizes Mia's writing, telling her that it relies too much on "slick pop culture references".
The series ended with its tenth book, when Mia turned 18.[2] However, Meg Cabot has also said that she may 'drop in' on her [Mia] from time to time in the future.
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The story of Mia Thermopolis's adolescent turmoil as an average teenager, and a princess of royal descent and chronicled in her ongoing journal, where she explores topics of teenage angst, love and betrayal through a very opinionated eye.
Principality of Genovia |
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| Motto The whole body works |
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| Anthem Genovia, the land I call my home |
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General location of Genovia |
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| Source | The Princess Diaries | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Meg Cabot | ||
| Genre | Young-adult fiction | ||
| Capital | Pyrus | ||
| Language(s) | French | ||
| Government | Monarchy | ||
| - Princess | Mia Thermopolis | ||
| - Prime Minister | Artur Christoff Phillipe Gerard Grimaldi Renaldo | ||
The series is set in New York. Some books take place in Genovia.
Main Article: Mia Thermopolis
Prefers to go by the name Mia Thermopolis.
Mia Thermopolis is a budding author and writes and publishes her own novel called Ransom My Heart, a historical romance set in England in the year 1291, in the final book of the series, Forever Princess.
She is the slightly obsessive and overprotective sister of Rocky Thermopolis-Gianini, causing her best friend Lilly Moscovitz to refer to her as a BL (Baby Licker), POG ( Princess Of Genovia), or PIT (Princess In Training). Mia seems to hate all of these nicknames, but doesn't object to them. Although being a generally kind person, Mia is portrayed as somewhat naive, as well as having a tendency to overanalyze things and worry too much.
She has been in love with Michael Moscovitz, Lilly's older brother, since she was in 1st grade and he was in 4th, when he brought a school project of Lilly's to their classroom. Mia admits her feelings to Michael in Princess in Love and to her delight, he reciprocates. However, because of their age difference, their relationship becomes a bit strained.
In book eight, Princess on the Brink, Mia finds out Micheal is moving to Japan to develop his prototype for a robot arm that would allow doctors to perform open heart surgery, an invention he later reveals was spurred by his desire to prove he was "worthy of dating a princess". In an attempt to keep him in the city, Mia proposes sex but is upset to find out that Michael already lost his virginity to Judith Gershner, a former classmate. Angry and heartbroken, Mia flings back the snowflake necklace that Michael gave her in Princess In Pink, signifying that their relationship is over. However, Mia quickly regrets the decision.
Also in book eight, Lilly is dumped by her boyfriend J.P., who quickly makes a play for Mia. Mia accidentally kisses J.P., which was witnessed by Michael who later related the story to Lilly. As a result, Lilly refused to speak Mia and they stopped being friends despite Mia's repeated attempts to get back in Lilly's good graces. The two finally make up in Forever Princess.
In the ninth book, Princess Mia, Mia confides in her psychologist, Dr. Knutz, about her feelings of inferiority to Michael, whom she expected to dump her for someone better and admits that she overreacted about Judith in order to dump Michael first. She attempts to salvage her romantic relationship with Michael; he refuses, but they become friends again. Michael is hinted to have been abstinent during his tenure in Japan and later returns to New York as a multi-millionaire in Forever Princess.
Despite the fact that she has a boyfriend, Mia remains in love with Michael and toward the end of the final book, Forever Princess, Michael kisses Mia and tells her that he never stopped loving her. Mia breaks up with J.P., who was only using her to get attention from the media to further his playwriting career. Michael and Mia finally reunite and it is hinted that he becomes her royal consort in the future.
Clarisse is the dowager princess of Genovia and Mia's paternal grandmother. Mia refers to her as "Grandmère" (French for "Grandmother"). As a young woman, she married Prince Rupert Renaldo and had two sons, although her elder son chose to do his life's bidding under the Church. Although, her second son, Philippe, was willing to be the heir to the throne. She habitually omits Mia's mother's surname "Thermopolis" from her granddaughter's lengthy list of names and titles, much to Mia's annoyance. She speaks French most of the time, though she can speak English. 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 hesitant about lying or manipulating others in order to get her own way.
She and Mia don't see eye to eye: Clarisse is concerned with attracting publicity to Genovia and ensuring Mia does not embarrass her country while Mia prefers to focus on politics. Though she and Mia butt heads often, she does care for her granddaughter and gives her advice about love and relationships that Mia takes with a grain of salt due to her grandmother's cold nature. For example, when Clarisse was married to the king of Genovia, she led him to believe that she was only interested in his status and money and never once said "I love you", in order to keep her husband on his toes. Mia also mentions that her father is terrified of his mother because she would lock him in the palace dungeons whenever he misbehaved (although when she informs him that he gives the appearance of being a little bit scared of Clarisse in Princess in the Spotlight, her father replies that he is not scared of his mother and that she really isn't as bad as Mia thinks; in his view, Clarisse "just needs proper handling").
While in New York to give Mia her princess lessons, the dowager princess resided in the Plaza Hotel, and was dissatisfied with other quality luxury hotels she was placed in during Princess On the Brink, when the Plaza was being remodeled.
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.
Mia admires Lilly's bravery and unwillingness to be pushed around by others though Lilly knows her insensitivity and forceful personality can cause her to be disliked. Mia and Lilly often enjoy discussing popular culture but Lilly's strong stances, however, cause her and Mia to clash, especially when Mia feels Lilly is becoming too critical of her. Yet, Lilly's blunt attitude is what often keeps Mia from over-analyzing things, such as her relationship with Michael, Lilly's older brother. Mia was initially afraid to share her crush on Michael with Lilly but in fact, Lilly was one of the conspirators who helped Mia and Michael get together in Princess in Love.
Lilly is not considered to be very pretty; Mia often describes her face as being "squashed in like a pug's". However, Lilly does have a well-developed figure which earns her several romantic suitors including Boris Pelkowski, Mia's cousin Hank, Jangbu, J.P. Reynolds, and Kenny Showalter.
Boris Pelkowski was Lilly's first boyfriend but the relationship ended when she cheated on him in Princess in Pink with an immigrant busboy Jangbu. In Party Princess, Lilly hooks up with J.P. Reynolds but in Princess On the Brink, Lilly is dumped by him because he never loved her. Lilly becomes angry at Mia when she finds out that Mia kissed J.P. and refuses to speak to her any more, even starting ihatemiathermopolis.com. Lilly is cold to Mia's attempts to make up but when she finds out that Mia is planning to lose her virginity to J.P., Lilly interferes and tells her that she and J.P. had sex (J.P. had lied about being a virgin to Mia) and his plans to use Mia's fame to his own advantage. The girls make up soon after that.
Mia's main love interest throughout the series.
Mia states that she's been in love with Michael Moscovitz since the day he came over to give Lilly a school project when they were in the first grade and he was in the third. From the end of the first book to the third, Mia has an unrequited crush on Michael, feelings which he finally returns in Princess in Love. Their relationship continues through Mia's sophomore year and Michael's first years at Columbia University but their relationship becomes slightly strained when Michael tells Mia he would like to have sex while Mia would prefer to wait until her prom night. Michael respects Mia's wishes but when Michael gets an offer to move to Japan, he believe it would be easier for their relationship as he is "tired of taking cold showers". Mia proposes sex in order to keep him from leaving but is upset to find out that he slept with Judith Gershner and the two break up. Michael believes Mia is overreacting and attempts to reconcile with her before leaving for Japan but is hurt to find her sharing a kiss with J.P.. Mia attempts to get back together and work it out long distance but Michael refuses, though he agrees to be friends. However, when Michael returns from Japan after being gone for almost two years, he flirts with Mia during her interview for the school paper. The two eventually kiss, despite Mia's having a boyfriend, and Michael declares that he still loves Mia and will wait for her. The two get back together on Mia's prom night and they finally have sex together.
Michael is extremely smart and handsome with a muscular figure, despite staying cooped up writing songs or on his computer the whole day. Though he often clashes with his younger sister, Michael and Lilly are in fact close siblings and friends. He used to have his own online magazine called Crackhead but had to disband it after an editorial that stated the merits of Linux over Windows, which caused a loss in advertisers and funds. Shortly after this, Michael decided to start a band called Skinner Box with a few friends, including Boris Pelkowski.
Mia insists that he's the third best-looking guy at AEHS and loves to smell his neck. Michael loves Mia just as she is, though her neurotic behavior and insecurity can be frustrating. In fact, Michael is the one who often feels insecure in their relationship because he knows Clarisse Marie Renaldi does not think he is an appropriate consort and all the gossip magazines would much rather prefer to see Mia date a fellow royal or celebrity. Due to this, Michael believes moving to Japan and developing his robotic arm would finally prove to the world that he is, in fact, worthy of dating a princess. Michael returns to New York a multi-millionaire and the president/owner of his own robotics company named after his dog, Pavlov.
Illustrated by Chelsey McLaren:
On April 6, 2006, Cabot announced a mistake on the back cover of her new book, Party Princess. In New Zealand and Australia, the picture on the back features Georgia Byng instead of Cabot. She said, "Don't worry. The copies of Princess Diaries 7 with Georgia Byng's picture on the back are being pulled from shops, and swapped for copies of the book with the correct author's photo (mine) on the back."
In December 2006, Cabot announced that a mistake had been made in the front cover summary of Valentine Princess. Since the book chronicles Mia glancing at her old diaries, the characters Boris and Tina were not dating, rather Boris and Lilly. However, on the book flap it says Boris and Tina are a couple. Cabot has announced that this will be fixed by the publishing company. Tina was dating Dave Farouq El-Abar at the time of books one and two.
In the 10th book (Forever Princess) Mia is writing a novel for her senior project, though she keeps it a secret from everyone but Michael, until the end of the book. At the end however she reveals this to Tina and J.P. Tina reads it instantly and thinks it is about Mia and Michael; J.P. doesn't read it and this upsets Mia, which is part of the reason they break up. At the end of the book, Mia receives an offer to get it published.( When Mia shares this news with Michael, they celebrate and this leads to a kiss, which proves that they are still in love.) Meg Cabot published "Mia's" book Ransom My Heart that can be bought in bookstores under the author name Princess of Genovia Mia Thermopolis.
In 2001 and 2004 respectively, the series was brought to the big screen by Walt Disney Pictures as The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. Cabot has thanked the movies 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.
In May 2006, The Harvard Crimson released reports that 19-year-old author Kaavya Viswanathan borrowed passages from Cabot's Princess Diaries series, and other books, to place in her novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. Viswanathan's novels were subsequently pulled from the shelves.[10]
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