Shonda Rhimes is revealing some behind-the-scenes tidbits. Before Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton, the screenwriter and producer lent her talents to 2004’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the sequel to Disney’s The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway.
Rhimes recalled working on the film in a new interview with Variety, sharing that producer Deborah Martin Chase approached her to write the sequel. “I thought that would be a really fun thing to do,” she said. “It turned out to be great.”
The Princess Diaries follow-up also stars Bridgerton narrator Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi. “It was great to get to work with her,” Rhimes said, before revealing that her favorite scene starring Andrews “got cut out of the movie.”
In the deleted scene, Andrews’ character reveals that “she’s just had her heart broken” as some of her royal staff enter the room to ask her a question. “She screams, ‘Do I never get a moment to myself?’” Rhimes recalled. “It’s such an amazing moment.”
Further praising Andrews’ portrayal of the fictional royal, the Emmy winner continued, “It was really about the pain of being a queen that she did so well,” before calling the actor “the nicest person you will ever meet” behind the scenes. “She was so nice to me. I was nervous to meet her and was shaking.”
Set five years after the first film, The Princess Diaries 2 follows Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) as she graduates from college and returns to Genovia, where she unexpectedly learns that she must get married within 30 days or she cannot become queen.
The Princess Diaries 3
With The Princess Diaries 3 reportedly in development, Hathaway has expressed interest in reprising her role alongside Andrews. “I’m pulling for it. If there’s any way to get Julie Andrews involved, I think we would make it work,” she told Entertainment Tonight in 2022.
Andrews, however, isn’t convinced a third movie will ever happen. “It’s quite a long time now since the two Diaries were done,” she said on TODAY in March. “Sometimes it’s best to leave a good thing alone. I don’t like it when people milk and milk and milk the subject, you know, ‘til it’s dead.”
