Anne Hathaway Pushed Hard for Julie Andrews in Princess Diaries 3 — But Andrews Says She's Past It
Anne Hathaway "did push really hard" to bring Julie Andrews back as Queen Clarisse Renaldi for the third Princess Diaries film, she told Entertainment Tonight after receiving her Disney Legends Honor at the D23 Expo. Andrews, for her part, has confirmed she will not appear in the film, telling The Hollywood Reporter she is "really past all that now" (The Hollywood Reporter, 19 August 2026).
Andrews, who turns 91 this year, said she does not think she should be part of Princess Diaries 3 and feels the time for reprising the role has passed. She is not fully retired — she writes books, records podcasts, and does voiceover work — but returning to Genovia's throne room is, in her words, "probably not going to be possible" (The Hollywood Reporter, 17 August 2026).
Hathaway's response was warm and measured. If Andrews has a change of heart, Hathaway said, they are "down" for anything — but the team also wants to respect her wishes (The Hollywood Reporter, 19 August 2026). The door is open, not ajar.
For fans of the franchise, this is the bittersweet centre of a project that has been gathering momentum since Disney first confirmed a third film was in the works back in November 2022. Hathaway herself made the official announcement in October 2024 with an Instagram video, and many who were children when the original opened in 2001 are now mothers — an audience Hathaway says she wants the new film to serve (The Hollywood Reporter, 19 August 2026).
Behind the camera, the creative team has taken shape. Adele Lim, whose credits include Crazy Rich Asians and Joy Ride, has been tapped to direct. Flora Greeson is writing the script, after Aadrita Mukerji delivered an earlier draft before the production team pivoted in a new direction. Debra Martin Chase, who produced the first two films, is back producing. Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot has teased that the script is "amazing" (The Hollywood Reporter, 26 June 2026).
The film is set to continue the story of Mia Thermopolis, the San Francisco teenager who discovered she was heir to the throne of Genovia — a fictional European principality that has lived rent-free in millennial imaginations for a quarter century.
Filming had been eyed for 2025, per Entertainment Weekly's reporting on Hathaway's confirmed return, but as of 2026 production had not yet begun (Elle, 16 August 2026). No release date has been set.
What the film will look like without Andrews' Queen Clarisse remains the open question. Andrews brought a particular grace to the role — the poised grandmother who could deliver a withering one-liner and a curtsy in the same breath. The franchise has always rested on the chemistry between her and Hathaway. Now it will have to find a different centre of gravity, and Lim and Greeson will be the ones who decide where that lands.
