Julie Andrews Won’t Be Returning For ‘The Princess Diaries 3’: “I Think The Story Has To Continue In Princess Mia”

Julie Andrews has confirmed she is breaking away from The Princess Diaries and won’t be reprising her role of Queen Clarisse Renaldi in the third installment.

In several new interviews, Andrews has reiterated she won’t be part of the third installment of the franchise she co-starred in with Anne Hathaway.

“I’m not going to be in it,” Andrews told Today.com when asked if she would be in the new sequel. “I think the story is slightly different, and I’m not quite sure how they’re dealing with that. But it’s too late for me to do it. I think the story has to continue in Princess Mia. It’s her story. It’s not really mine.”

In a separate interview with InStyle, Andrews said she “passed” on taking part in the new Princess Diaries movie, saying, “I think I’m retired, really, would be about the best description for that. [The film’s creative team] asked me all last year if I would be keen to do it. It was very very hard to say ‘no,’ but I did because I thought I had a wonderful ride, and this one I felt would flourish very well and wouldn’t need Granny going in there at my age.”

Andrews’ decision not to return for the third installment of the film series is not entirely surprising, as she echoed a similar sentiment after the movie was confirmed in 2022.

“I think we know that it’s probably not going to be possible,” Andrews told Access Hollywood. “It was talked about very shortly after [the second sequel] came out, but it’s now how many years since then? And I am that much older, and Annie the princess, or queen, is so much older. And I am not sure where it would float or run.”

The Princess Diaries originally came out in 2001 with Garry Marshall directing Andrews and Anne Hathaway. The coming-of-age comedy was based on the popular Meg Cabot novel series with Mia Thermopolis, played by Anne Hathaway, at the center of the story. Mia is a teenager from San Francisco who discovers that she is the heir apparent to the throne of Genovia. A sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, was released three years later, in 2004, with both Andrews and Hathaway reprising their roles.