Julie Andrews explains why she won't be in The Princess Diaries 3

Julie Andrews has officially confirmed that she will not be reprising her iconic role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in Disney's upcoming The Princess Diaries 3.

Speaking about the long-gestating sequel in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 90-year-old Oscar winner explained that too much time has passed since the release of The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) to make a return feasible.

“I think the absolute truth is that I think I’m really past all that now,” Andrews told the publication. “I’m not completely retired, but it’s a different kind of work that I do these days — [writing] books, and I do a lot of recording of podcasts and voiceovers. But truly, I don’t think I should be a part of it.”

Addressing her decision, Andrews noted that while she didn't feel it was her place to reprise her role, she was still very excited for what the future film could bring to the ongoing storyline.

“It isn’t that I’m not enthusiastic for it. It’s just that I really don’t feel I should be part of it now,” she explained.

When grilled on what she thought the new film should cover, Andrews remained impeccably nonchalant as she said: “I actually don’t know. I think it proceeds from the second Princess Diaries. It moves on, but by now Annie too is a little older than she was when she did it. I’m interested to see what Meg [Cabot] and Annie and everybody comes up with,” she said.

Julie Andrews has ruled out a return to Genovia for the new film (Ron Batzdorff, Disney Pictures)

The highly anticipated third instalment of the Princess Diaries franchise was first announced back in 2024, when Anne Hathaway excitedly shared the news on social media. “The fairy tale continues,” Hathaway wrote on her Instagram back when the third film was initially announced.

However filming has remained a bit of a logistical challenge with the actress currently expecting her third child, meaning her window for bringing the script to life has been rapidly cut short.

“I’m busy making baby No. 3 and that has sort of taken the place of knowing exactly when I can make Princess Diaries 3,” Hathaway said, during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy,

“But I can say I think we had a story breakthrough. I think we are moving in the right direction. The script that we were working on — we kind of had to start over with this new direction, which is not the update I think anybody wants, but we all feel really good that this is gonna be the one.”

The actress prefers to work away from the cameras these days (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)

In total there are 12 core novels in The Princess Diaries book series, along with 3 novellas and 4 companion books, meaning there is no shortage of source material for screenwriters to take their cues from.

However, settling on just the right script to bring Mia’s journey to screen has been an uphill battle several years in the making, as author Meg Cabot recently admitted. “I read a script, and it was amazing. I told them not to send anymore, because I love it so much,” she explained.

“They don’t like it when you tell people what’s gonna happen yet. So I was like, ‘Better not send me any more scripts!’”

Addressing what could lay ahead, Cabot went on to add: “It has been in discussions for a really long time. There have been a lot of scripts, and I think this one that I most recently read is my favorite. Fingers crossed that’s the one they’re going to use, but it’s a really fun idea, and I’m 100 percent behind it.”