Dame Julie Andrews has confirmed she will not return for “The Princess Diaries 3,” saying the upcoming sequel should focus on Princess Mia, per film-news.co.uk. The 90-year-old actress played Queen Clarisse Renaldi opposite Anne Hathaway in the 2001 original and its 2004 sequel.
Andrews said she would not appear in the third film, explaining that the story has moved on from her character.
In an interview with today.com, she said: “I’m not going to be in it.” She added that she believed the story had to continue with Mia, stating: “It’s her story. It’s not really mine.”
Speaking separately to InStyle, Andrews said the film’s creative team had approached her throughout last year but she declined. She described herself as retired and said it was “very, very hard to say ‘no’,” but felt she had “a wonderful ride” and that the new film would flourish without her.
Anne Hathaway is set to reprise her role as Mia Thermopolis, now Queen of Genovia, in the third instalment, which will be directed by Crazy Rich Asians co-writer Adele Lim.
Hathaway recently said the production had reached a story breakthrough after scrapping a previous script. She told SiriusXM’s Radio Andy that the team had started over with a new direction and felt confident it would be the version to go forward.
The franchise, based on Meg Cabot’s novels, follows Mia as she discovers she is heir to the throne of Genovia. At the end of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Mia is crowned queen after Parliament abolishes the law requiring a queen to be married.
Cabot has said she is “so excited” about the third film and described a script she had read as “amazing”.
The Princess Diaries, released in 2001, launched Hathaway’s film career and became a commercial success, leading to a 2004 sequel that introduced Chris Pine. A third film has been in development for several years.