The Princess Diaries
Meg Cabot
238 pages - 2000 - fiction, young adult
April 6th, 2024 — April 7th, 2024
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½
I was lucky in so, so many ways growing up. One of those ways was that I grew up at a time of what I consider Very Good Media—I was at the tail end of a great age of Nickelodeon cartoons, including Avatar: the Last Air Bender, Rugrats, and Hey Arnold. Some of the movies that were released when I was young were Night at the Museum, Robots, and The Emperor’s New Groove. I remember sitting on the family couch, watching the countdown on Disney Channel to the release of the next Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM™).
I was also lucky because I grew up with a whole coterie of cousins. Me and my two brothers are the youngest of our thirty-something first-generation cousins, meaning we got the best sort of hand-me-downs: advice and media recommendations. Some of my favorite memories are watching Are You Afraid of the Dark and Spirited Away with them, all of us laughing at the same moments. We all got along so well (and still do!), and it definitely informed a great amount of my tastes that I have to this day. It is one of the biggest blessings a person could have ever received.
I remember watching The Princess Diaries movie vividly—we were on a family vacation together. These vacations almost always entail us renting a lake house and cramming as many people into it as possible. We would have one night for tacos and fiestas, one night where we watch a Studio Ghibli movie, one where we watch a horror movie, and we would always be playing games and swimming and coming up with mind-bending imaginary worlds with each other.
This vacation in question was one of the first I truly remember. I was young—I think maybe thirteen or fourteen—and I was finally a person and not just a kid. There’s a point that you hit as a Cousin™ where you go from a kid that they have to entertain to a person that they can talk to. I think this trip was the first where I was staunchly in the latter camp.
My cousins have a game that they play called Hamster, which goes like this: someone chooses something to watch, and someone chooses a seat. Then everyone else piles on the couch, chair, floor—wherever we happen to be. It stems from the idea that hamsters tend to just pile on top of each other. Admittedly, it is not much of a game when described, but let me tell you, playing Hamster with them is a feature in many of my favorite memories.
On this vacation, we chose to watch The Princess Diaries movie, and it was transformative. I was finally a person, and I was playing Hamster with my cousins, and everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves. I think, because of that, I have such fond feelings surrounding the movie. But I also think it’s because it is arguably a very good movie! It’s funny and heartfelt, and it made a young girl (me) realize that there are so many more important things than high school or looks. I was never a very girly girl, and I really related to the main character, Mia. (Thankfully, I’m not a princess and I think I never will be one.)
I tried my best not to compare the book to the movie, but it was hard, especially with such lovely memories associated with the film. That being said, though, I haven’t seen the movie in a long time, and the book really brought me back. I thought it was funny, sometimes cringy in a high school way, and overall had a very consistent tone and style. It was written as a diary, including scribbles in the margins about algebra and forgetting what she had for homework and cute boys. It’s a format that is difficult, if not impossible, to emulate in a visual medium, and I think the movie did a great job with it, even without the marginalia.
I think my main critique of the book was the character of Grandmère, Mia’s grandmother and the Queen of Genovia. Viewers of the movie know that she is played by Julie Andrews in a graceful, suave way. In the book, though, she is mean. And it isn’t mean in a way that teaches lessons at the end, it felt straight-up mean. There is a notable detail that she locked her son, Mia’s father, in the dungeon when he did not behave, which is why he is so afraid of his mother.
But I think this is where the movie picks up the slack. In the movie, we come to love the character of Grandmère. Even though she’s tough on Mia, she is teaching her valuable lessons and skills, and that leads to a happier existence. The movie only came out a year after the book did, and I appreciate this quick turnaround. I think if Grandmère was the same character in the movie as she was in the book, it might not have been such a fun watch.
The story is well-versed in subtext as well. We are reading everything through the voice of Mia, and it has all the telltale signs of a diary. The narrator is, by necessity, biased, because she is writing this (seemingly) just for herself. Because of this, we as readers come to learn that Michael, her best friend’s brother, likes Mia; he asks if she has a date to the dance, and she, exasperated, says no and that he’s making fun of her. He asks her again, and again, and every time she brushes him off; he even offers to hang out with her, but she assumes that he is trying to continue tutoring her in math, since she’s failing. It’s a cute detail, and one that helps solidify this world.
There is not much of a plot to the book—Mia finds out she’s heir to the throne of Genovia, princess lessons and chaos ensues—but it still felt satisfying at the end. Below, I included my favorite page, towards the end of the book. It’s a beautiful sentiment that I am trying to recognize more often in myself.
It’s heartwarming and relatable, although thankfully not too relatable. I went through public school, but I luckily did not have it nearly as hard as Mia (even if a lot of her problems are internal and self-inflicted). Plus, it’s a very quick read—I read most of it in a day, picking it up between various chores and activities. It brought me back to a great time, and also made me glad to be where and who I am today.
Total pages read so far, 2024: 6941
Total books read so far, 2024: 19
Next book: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt