The Princess Diaries

“You’re always going around, lying about how you feel. Why don’t you assert yourself for a change?”

Lilly and Mia both agree that Mia has trouble telling the truth about how she feels. Mia is a habitual people pleaser, so early in the novel, she decides that she wants to learn how to be more assertive. Slowly, Mia’s self-confidence begins to build, and as she faces one challenge after another as the new Princess of Genovia, she finds that it gradually becomes easier to speak her mind.

“Michael’s a senior (just like Josh Richter). Michael has gotten all straight A’s his entire life (just like Josh Richter). Michael will probably go to Yale or Harvard next year (just like Josh Richter).”

Mia introduces Lilly’s brother, Michael, by comparing him to Josh Richter. Although this is mostly because Michael is the only boy that she is close to who has anything in common with Josh, Cabot also uses this quote and its repetition to drive the idea that Michael might be a better romantic interest for Mia than Josh. As the story progresses, the comparisons between Michael and Josh continue to point out how much better he is than Mia’s idealized crush. Michael’s friendship gives Mia a model for how she should allow boys to treat her.

“What I don’t get is, what’s the big deal? What does he need more kids for? He already has me!”

When Mia first learns that her father is infertile, she fails to understand the gravity of the situation. Mia thinks her dad simply wanted more kids, but she does not yet know about the Genovian throne and the need for an heir. While her mother and father realize right away what this means for her, she remains blissfully unaware that her life is about to change and doesn’t understand why she isn’t enough for her father.

“You’re Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia.”

Mia has spent her entire life as Mia Thermopolis, just another teenage girl in a city of millions. However, with the news of her royal blood comes her new title, a much longer, more formal series of names that reflect her noble blood and the serious nature of the job. Mia’s royal title is intimidating, full of expectations, and demands a lifetime of change and responsibility that frighten her.

“My dad actually has a lot in common with Captain Picard [...] Except that Captain Picard always makes everything okay by the end of the episode, and I sincerely doubt everything will be okay for me.”

Mia is a fan of Star Trek, and she likens her father to the beloved Starship Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard. Like Picard, her father is responsible for ruling over a small group of people, and he uses logic and reasoning to make the best decisions for his crew. However, Mia recognizes that Captain Picard is a fictional character, and in real life, leaders don’t always make the right choices in the best interests of other people. Real life is not fantasy, and there isn’t always a neat, clean, or happy ending.

“Nobody can make me be a princess, not even my dad, if I don’t want to be one. Right?”

Mia’s initial reaction to the news of her royal title is to deny and run away from her destiny. She hides at the zoo and at Lilly’s house, and when she is forced to talk to her parents about it, she digs her heels in and insists that she will not become the princess. Mia’s reaction is fueled partly by immaturity and partly by fear: She can’t wrap her mind around the idea of being forced to give up her future, especially after spending her whole life in America, where the idea of having control over one’s destiny is an integral part of society.

“I, the undersigned, Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, agree to fulfill the duties of heir to Artur Christoff Phillipe Gerard Grimaldi Renaldo, prince of Genovia, and all that such a role entails [...]”

Mia and her father arrive at an unsteady agreement: Mia will be allowed to stay in New York and complete high school provided she promises to accept the duties and responsibilities of the heir of the throne of Genovia. When they draw up the Thermopolis-Renaldo Compromise, however, Mia doesn’t fully understand what those “duties” entail, and she later learns that princess lessons with Grandmère are part of the compromise.

“Like I don’t have enough to worry about. I’m flunking Algebra, my mom’s dating my teacher, and I’m the princess of Genovia.”

Mia is only a 14-year-old girl, and after a relatively easy life with her mother and friends in Manhattan, she is suddenly grappling with several big life changes. She has trouble coping with her mother’s new relationship with Mr. Gianini, the news that she will one day inherit an entire country of people to take care of, and her diminishing patience and self-esteem tied to her failing grades in algebra. For a teenager, these problems can feel like the end of the world, and when a person is faced with so many seemingly insurmountable challenges, they begin to feel hopeless and trapped.

“Why did she have to come NOW? She’s going to ruin EVERYTHING. There’s no way I’m going to be able to keep this a secret from everyone with HER around.”

Mia has decided to keep her royal title under wraps, and although her mother and father agree not to broadcast the news, Mia flies into a panic when she learns that Grandmère has arrived in Manhattan. She is certain that Grandmère will be the reason the secret comes out. This comment foreshadows the events of Chapter 23, in which the press catches wind of Mia’s royal title, and, as Mia later learns, Grandmère was the one who tipped off the media to the truth.

“Princess lessons. I am not kidding. I have to go straight from my Algebra review session every day to princess lessons at the Plaza with my grandmother.” 

In addition to everything else Mia is trying to deal with in her personal life, she learns that she has to spend every afternoon with her grandmother, who plans to teach her how to become a presentable princess. Between Mia’s algebra review sessions and her princess lessons, she is overwhelmed by the thought of giving up all her free time trying to become something she’s not. Mia does not believe that she will ever become proficient in algebra, just like she doesn’t believe that she will ever fit the image of a suitable princess. 

“There isn’t a single inch of me that hasn’t been pinched, cut, filed, painted, sloughed, blown dry, or moisturized.”

On the day of Paolo’s makeover, Mia is lured into a false sense of security when Grandmère tells her to wear whatever she wants and not bother styling her hair or wearing makeup. What Mia sees as an unexpected gift of freedom is actually her grandmother delivering a blank slate to Paolo, and by the end of the afternoon, Mia is thoroughly pushed outside her comfort zone. Mia is overstimulated and very uncomfortable with the makeover, and the experience is physically taxing.

“She’s turning me into someone else.”

Not only is Paolo’s makeover physically uncomfortable. Mia is also filled with distress when she looks in the mirror and realizes that she looks nothing like her old self. Just like her father tries to push her royal name onto her, Mia feels like her grandmother is trying to push a royal version of her appearance. Mia begins to feel that she is losing herself in her new role as princess, and she is overwhelmed with anger and fear.

“I will donate one hundred dollars a day to [...] Greenpeace, so they can save all the whales they want, if you will make my mother happy by letting her teach you to be a princess.”

When Mia confronts her father about Grandmère’s antics at Paolo’s studio, he strikes a deal with her. Phillipe tries to offer to pay Mia for attending princess lessons and letting her grandmother turn her into a princess, but Mia refuses until her father offers to donate the money to Greenpeace directly in her name. Mia has dreams of joining Greenpeace one day, and although the thought of accepting her father’s bribe makes her feel dirty, she is able to justify the bribe if someone or something she cares about is benefitting from her sacrifice.

“We’re going to break the cycle of racism that has been rampant in delis across the five boroughs”

Mia has always been a loyal friend to Lilly, and no matter how ridiculous her antics might become, Mia is always there to support Lilly, especially when it comes to Lilly’s TV show. However, when Lilly decides to launch a campaign against the owners of Ho’s deli, Mia hesitates. With her newfound confidence, Mia starts to realize how ridiculous and unnecessary Lilly’s boycott is. Mia consciously objects to this, because she thinks it could actually be harmful to the Ho family. Still, Lilly pushes on, with or without Mia’s help, and once her mind is made up about something, Lilly has a hard time letting go.

“He is such a chauvinist—he has girlfriends stay over at Miragnac every summer, sometimes a new one every two weeks!—but he expects Mom to stay pure as the driven snow.”

Mia’s commentary brings up an interesting social phenomenon when it comes to male versus female behavior in dating. Mia points out that her father has an endless parade of new girlfriends, but Mia can count on one hand the number of men her mother dated over the years. Still, Mia’s father becomes exasperated when he has to hear about or see Mia’s mother actively dating, and he seems to have a double standard when it comes to their separate dating lives.

“Then a strange thing happened. I was sitting there, looking at the tears welling up in Tina Hakim Baba’s eyes, and then the next thing I knew, I’d taken my Nutty Royale and thrust it with all my might at the front of Lana’s sweater.”

When Lana starts to bully Mia for her new haircut in the cafeteria, Mia holds her tongue and doesn’t stand up for herself. However, as soon as Lana’s focus shifts to Tina, Mia is suddenly seized with an intense desire to retaliate. She acts on pure impulse, shoving her ice-cream cone into Lana’s sweater, and in the heat of the moment, Mia has an almost out-of-body experience in which she watches the whole thing play out. Mia is not confrontational, and this behavior is completely unexpected from her.

“My picture is on the cover of the Post. That’s right. The New York Post. Read by millions of New Yorkers daily.”

When the news breaks that Mia is the Princess of Genovia, everything changes. Mia kept her royal life separate from her school life, but once the media catches wind that there is a European royal living in the heart of Manhattan, Mia’s normal childhood comes to an end. There is no going back, and whether she likes it or not, she can’t hide from her title any longer.

“Everyone will know that you are the princess Amelia of Genovia. And you cannot quit being who you are.”

When the media circus begins at Mia’s school, she tells her father that she is done. She doesn’t want to be the Genovian princess, and she wants her old life back. However, her father reminds her that this isn’t something she can simply stop being. Whether she likes it or not, Mia will always be the Princess of Genovia. It is a vital part of who she is, even if she wants to deny it and pretend it doesn’t exist.

“I really want to do what’s best for Genovia. I really do. But I also have to do what’s best for Mia Thermopolis.”

Mia spends most of the novel trying to strike this balance between the good of Genovia and the good of her own life. Mia tries to be a good person, and although she never intends to be selfish, she begins to wrestle with her own selfish desire to abandon the 50,000 people of Genovia in the interest of having control over her own life. Mia is on the cusp of adolescence, and her confusion intensifies as she tries to make the right decisions that will make her family and the people of Genovia happy without sacrificing herself in the process.

“Mia, your grandmother and I have a very complicated relationship.”

Phillipe tells Mia that he had an “unsatisfactory” childhood with Grandmère, and Mia’s mother implies that Grandmère was always unnecessarily harsh with him. Despite Grandmère’s vanity and cruelty, Phillipe has a desire to please his mother, and he even jumps to her defense when she is clearly in the wrong, as when she tips the press off about Mia’s royal title. Phillipe, like Mia, wants to make other people happy, but she doesn’t want to inherit his inability to stand up for himself.

“I am going to the biggest dance of the fall semester with the cutest, most sensitive boy in school, and nothing anyone can do or say will make me feel bad about that”

When Josh asks Mia out, she is giddy with happiness. She ignores the multiple red flags around the situation, such as Josh’s quick breakup with Lana, her parents’ concern about her dating a much older boy, and even Lilly’s snarky commentary about Josh’s alleged drug use. Mia is so blinded by her infatuation that she chooses to believe that Josh is a genuinely good person who likes her for who she is. Still, on the night of the dance, Mia has a hard time ignoring Josh’s unpleasant behavior, and she starts to wonder if her dream boy is as dreamy as she once believed.

“He probably only broke up with Lana just so he could tell his friends he’s dating a girl worth three hundred million dollars.”

Mia starts to piece together the truth about who Josh really is. He brags about dating a rich girl before Lana, calls the media to make sure he will be seen with Mia, and forces a kiss on her in front of the paparazzi outside of the school. Too late, Mia realizes that Josh used her to make a name for himself, and he never liked her at all. Josh is a clout-chaser, and he is willing to stoop to dirty tricks to make himself look good to important people.

“I would rather not have a boyfriend at all than have one who is only using me for my money or the fact that my father is a prince or for any reason, really, except that he likes me for me, and nothing else.”

Mia spends most of The Princess Diaries obsessing over Josh and the fairy-tale dream of having the perfect boyfriend. Mia wants someone who will see into her soul, past her flat chest, and see her for who she really is. In short, Mia wants to be loved, and she thinks that having a boyfriend will fulfill this need. However, Mia learns that self-love is far more valuable than any boyfriend, and she should never settle for anyone who doesn’t respect her or like her for who she is.