"I feel in my heart and soul that I can rule Genovia. I... I love Genovia. Do you think that I would be up here in a wedding dress if I didn't?"
— Mia Thermopolis
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, is a 2004 American Romantic Comedy. It is the sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries, once again directed by Garry Marshall and starring Anne Hathaway as Mia and Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse.
The film takes place a few years after the first one, and deviates completely from the storylines of the books. Mia arrives in Genovia ready to take the throne, but winds up having to contend with an obscure Genovian law that prevents her from taking the throne without a husband. Enter Nicholas Devereaux (Chris Pine), a charming young nobleman who seems to be trying to steal the throne from right under her nose at the behest of the villainous Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies). In order to inherit, Mia arranges a Marriage of Convenience between herself and Duke Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue), but cannot deny her attraction to Nicholas.
Returning cast members include Heather Matarazzo as Lily, Héctor Elizondo as Joe and Caroline Goodall as Helen. Raven-Symoné has a role as fellow princess Asana, who gets to duet with Clarisse in Andrews' first onscreen performance since her 1997 throat surgery.
Plans for a third film were announced in 2016, but have been put on hold due to Marshall's death.
Tropes:
- Advertised Extra: Raven-Symoné's role as Asana was heavily promoted but she only really plays a major role in the opening party and at the sleepover.
- Amicable Exes:
- Mia mentions she and Michael broke up, but remained friends.
- Likewise, while calling them exes is stretch, in the end despite calling off their wedding, Andrew is audience to Mia's coronation as Queen, and sings along proudly with the rest of the crowd to Genovia's anthem, showing their friendship still remains strong.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: Mia takes her place and is crowned as queen of Genovia at the end of the sequel.
- Awkward Kiss: Mia and Andrew try to kiss to see if they have any romantic chemistry at all. Cue extremely uncomfortable liplock and the realization that they are definitely Better as Friends.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Mia and Nicholas's bickering is a sign of their mutual attraction, which they eventually act on.
- Better as Friends:
- Mia and Michael have broken up, and Mia mentioned that they're now back to "just friends".
- Mia and Andrew. The two got along really well, and Mia expected him to be her perfect match to secure the throne of Genovia. Later, they fall for other people, and they (quite happily) called off the wedding.
- Betty and Veronica: Invoked. Mabrey instructs Nicholas to seduce Mia with the thought of a passionate romance, contrasting her intended Marriage of Convenience with Andrew. The one thing he didn't count on was Nicholas genuinely falling for her.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Flipping the Big "SHUT UP!" moment from the first film where Mia yelled "Shut up" in front of a scandalized Clarisse, Clarisse herself cries "Shut up" when the Genovian parliament drops the bomb that Mia must be married in order to ascend to the throne. Leads to a funny moment when the camera cuts back to an eavesdropping Mia:Clarisse: Shut up!
Mia: Grandma said 'shut up'? Shut up! - The Cameo:
- Freakin' Stan Lee appears as a guest. And that was before anyone even thought about the idea of Disney buying Marvel.
- Sophia Loren also cameos in the birthday party scene.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Jeremiah is nowhere to be found in the second movie. It's possible Lilly lost touch with him at some point in between the two films.
- Fictional Fan, Real Celebrity: When going through the list of potential suitors for Mia so she may secure the throne of Genovia, a slide of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (who was 22 years old and unmarried at the time) comes up. Though Mia is ecstatic, he is quickly ruled out as a candidate because he's in line for his own crown.Joe: If he's not eligible, then why is he in these slides?Charlotte: (dreamily) I just love to look at him.Clarisse: Me too.
- Friendship as Courtship: Queen Clarisse's longtime bodyguard Joe spontaneously proposal to her following an hour and a half of Unresolved Sexual Tension, which she accepts.
- Improbable Hairstyle Sequence: Paolo, the royal hairdresser, is tasked with doing Mia's hair for her wedding. She grimaces and says she looks like a moose. At any rate, Mia comes to her wedding with a normal-looking hairstyle.
- Lessons in Sophistication: One scene has Clarisse teach Mia "the art of the fan", in which ladies make use of the High-Class Fan to elegantly communicate her feelings without having to say a single word.
- Marriage of Convenience: In the sequel, Mia resigns herself to this with Andrew so she can properly inherit the throne, although they both acknowledge that there's no romantic spark between them. She calls off the wedding at the altar, to both of their relief.
- Nepotism: A throwaway gag line reveals that the reason why Mia's suite wasn't ready upon her arrival is because they asked her grandfather's cousin to do the bathroom. As Clarisse puts it, nepotism belongs in the arts — not plumbing.
- No Sense of Personal Space: When Nicholas attempts to woo Mia, he pulls her close to him and kisses her at least once.
- Non Sequitur: After Mia’s wooden leg is exposed to the people from her horse being scared by a rubber snake, one woman amusedly points it out as reason for being so clumsy. Another woman quite randomly follows that up by pointedly noting “I like all these men wearing helmets.”
- No Sparks: Mia and Andrew's problem in the sequel. They click immediately — as friends. While they would have had a comfortable marriage had the wedding gone through, it wouldn't have necessarily been happy. This relationship apparently mirrors that between Mia's grandparents. Clarissa called her late husband her best friend, and she was happy with him, but she didn't love him — at least, not as much as she should have, and not quite in the way a wife would love her husband.
- Obviously Evil: Mabrey makes it clear that he's out for the throne.
- Offscreen Breakup: In the opening narration, Mia off-handedly remarks that she and Michael (her Love Interest from the previous film, and One True Love in the books) are just friends now.
- Pair the Spares: The garden party makes it quite clear that not only are Mia and Nicholas the Official Couple of the film, Andrew is quite taken with Lady Elyssa, Nicholas' date. The final scene implies that they did indeed get together.
- Parental Marriage Veto: The whole conflict of the second movie could've been avoided if they had betrothed Nicholas to Mia — especially since it was becoming increasingly clear to anyone watching them interact that they wouldn't be opposed to the idea at all. Nicholas even brings up the possibility to his uncle, who immediately shoots it down as he does not want anyone to threaten his attempts to make Nicholas a Puppet King.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage:
- Played With. Mia does find Andrew to be all the things a Prince Charming should be, handsome, kind and intelligent, and she does genuinely like him, she just doesn't love him, and vice versa. He is willing however to still be her consort if it means she inherits her birthright as Queen of Genovea, but she decides she cannot allow him to sacrifice his own chance at happiness for her.
- Discussed in relations to her grandparents. While the two did have a happy marriage, and Clarrise did love her husband, enough that she was able to produce two heirs, she claims that King Rupert was her best friend, but not the love of her life.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Mia frequently wears shades of red, pink, and orange while her love interest Nicholas is frequently seen in shades of blue.
- Precocious Crush: Prince Jacques, age 12, tries to romance Mia while dancing with her at her 21st birthday.
- Prince Charming: Andrew Jacoby is a duke, not a prince, but fits the part in all other aspects. He's an Oxbridge-educated Nice Guy who does volunteer work and photography, has experience as a military pilot, and is apparently a champion swimmer.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Now officially having taken on the role of Princess of Genovia, Mia wears many pink items of clothing throughout the film, including pink pyjamas. Most notable is the beautiful pink dress suit she wears at the beginning of the film and the pink sundress she wears to the garden party.
- Race Against the Clock: Mia has 30 days to get married to someone or she'll have to give up the throne.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Robert Schwartzmann was busy touring with his band when the sequel was produced, which is why Mia's narration says she and Michael are Better as Friends at the start.
- Retcon: Despite having liked two guys in the first movie and officially dating one of them at the end, Mia states in the sequel that she's never been in love. Then again, she could have been talking about being in a serious relationship; how many high school romances tend to last after high school?
- Romantic Runner-Up: Andrew really is just as nice as he appears, and if things had been different, he and Mia probably could have made a go of a content, if not exactly passionate, marriage. He is seen standing with Lilly, Nicholas, and Lady Elyssa at Mia's coronation, making it clear that they did remain friends — and that, thankfully, he got his own happy ending.
- Runaway Bride: Played straight in the climax where Mia decides not to marry Andrew for the sake of Genovia, much to his relief since he didn't particularly want to marry her either.
- Shipper on Deck: Lilly ships Mia/Nicholas. Mia ships Joe/Clarisse.
- Shipping Torpedo: Nicholas and his uncle initially try to torpedo Mia/Andrew so Nicholas can be king. He has a change of heart.
- Ship Tease: Lily and the leader of the Royal Guard Band in the sequel. He even goes as far as to ask if he could call her in California, and she slips him her business card.
- Slumber Party: Mia invites fellow princesses of various ages from around the globe, along with Lilly and Charlotte, to one which doubles as her bridal shower. Clarisse joins them to perform "Crowning Glory" with Princess Asana.
- Succession Crisis: The plot of the second movie — an obscure law bars Mia from inheriting the throne of Genovia unless she is married. In the event that she doesn't, Nicholas Devereaux, a distant heir, is next in line. Gets resolved as Mia ultimately gets the parliament to strike the law down (after Nicholas makes it clear that enforcing the law would lead to a whole new Succession Crisis as he won't accept the throne either).
- Symbol Swearing: In the sequel, Mia does a mixture of this and Goshdang It To Heck by angrily muttering some nonsense syllables while stomping off.
- Took a Level in Kindness:
- Lilly has noticeably matured by this film, shedding most of her slightly caustic traits from the first film.
- The Baron and Baroness, comical crown-grabbers from the first film, also briefly appear in this film but have backed off seeking the crown except for a Played for Laughs moment near the end.
- Tranquil Fury: In the sequel, after Viscount Mabrey has staged a humiliating accident while Mia was inspecting the royal guard, Joe confronts him, having quickly figured out he was the one behind it. Joe never once raises his voice, but you can definitely hear the anger in it.Joe: Viscount, you may not be aware of what my job entails as the Royal Head of Security. My job is to protect the crown. To make sure no harm comes to the crown. To step in when someone toys with the crown's emotions, you see.
Viscount Mabrey: I think the entire country understands how well you cater to the crown's emotions.
Joe: (Beat as his expression turns stoic) If you hurt my girl, you will answer directly to me, and whatever crimes I commit against you, remember; I have diplomatic immunity in 46 countries. Including Puerto Rico.
Viscount Mabrey: Sir, you will find that the word "fear" is not in my vocabulary!
Joe: Perhaps... but it's in your eyes. - Unresolved Sexual Tension: Clarisse and her longtime bodyguard Joe have simmering feelings for each other, but have never acted on it due to propriety. If Viscount Mabrey's comment is anything to go by, this has been going on for quite some time. They finally resolve it by getting married in the end.
- Why Waste a Wedding?: Played straight when Mia and Andrew call off their wedding at the altar, Mia convinces Clarisse and Joe to finally tie the knot. The former sheepishly says "you were all dressed" to the confused wedding guests.
