The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries Summary | Plot Summary

The Princess Diaries spans twenty-seven days in the life of Mia Thermopolis, a high school freshman living in New York with her mother, Helen Thermopolis. Mia is fairly sophisticated for her age, having been raised in an artist's loft in the multi-cultural milieu of Greenwich Village. Her father is a politician from the fictional principality of Genovia, modeled after the real-world principality of Monaco. Mia is presented as an ordinary American teenager. She is bright and interesting but doesn't fit in with the popular clique at school, despite her crush on the popular Josh Richter. She is a tomboy who favors combat boots and sports Greenpeace logos on her school backpack. A strict vegetarian, Mia prefers the natural look, meaning no makeup, hair dye or fingernail polish. She is intelligent and aware of current trends in politics, sociology and the environment. Her best friend Lilly Moscovitz is an amateur investigative reporter with her own public-access TV show, and Lilly's smart older brother Michael publishes a weekly online magazine as an ongoing school project. Mia is interested in Michael, but she would never consider upsetting Lilly by admitting her feelings.

In fact, Mia has a hard time admitting how she really feels about a lot of things because Mia prefers to avoid conflict and tries to make everyone else happy, sometimes even at her own expense. For this reason, Mia's mom presents her with a diary in which to record her true feelings when Mom starts dating Mia's algebra teacher, Mr. Gianini. This is a problem for Mia, who is failing algebra and is forced to spend an hour a day after school with Mr. Gianini for review sessions. Mia's mom is so happy, though, that Mia, as usual, keeps her feelings to herself. However, the reader is privy to all of Mia's inner thoughts, which she records faithfully in her diary.

Into the mix of Mia's everyday life comes a stunning revelation: Mia discovers that she is actually heiress to the crown of Genovia. Her dad, upon learning that he can no longer father any more children, informs Mia that she must assume the role of princess of Genovia. Phillipe Renaldo has long kept his princely status a secret from his only daughter, under the assumption that one day he would marry and produce a legitimate heir. He never thought that Mia, product of a brief, youthful romance with Helen, would be forced to succeed him on the throne. Now Mia's life is turned upside down as her daunting Grandmire arrives in New York and seeks to turn tomboy Mia into an elegant, refined royal lady.

To complicate matters, Mia is determined to keep her new status secret from her fellow students at Albert Einstein High. She especially does not want her socialist-leaning best friend Lilly to find out that Mia is now part of the aristocracy that Lilly believes keeps the common man in financial bondage. However, someone leaks the story to the press, obligating Mia to face up to her royal heritage. In the process, she discovers who she really is at heart and learns to stand up for herself and the rights of others. Mia also discovers who her true friends are and that dating the most popular boy in school is not all she hoped it would be.