To be a princess

Don’t we all females have this princess fantasy at one time or another? If Prince William of Wales is Prince Charming personified, it was Prince Andrew of York for me then.

How about writing our thoughts and feelings on Dear Diary? All this and more made the Princess Diaries  series one of my all-time favorite movies.

Princess Diaries 2 (Royal Engagement) is a feel-good movie that a princess-wanna-be like me would like to watch repeatedly.

 It starts with the graduation of Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo or simply Princess Mia from college and her return back to Genovia. This is five years after knowing that she is a real-life princess. A year after her return to Genovia, the throne is supposed to be passed on to her by her Queen Grandmere. Our Princess from America is all jittery as there is no course in any school offering “How to Run a Country 101.” But she is confident that her grandmother, the Queen, would train her until she is fit to assume the throne and rule Genovia.

A big party is thrown on her 21st birthday where she gets to dance with all the eligible bachelors. As Princess Mia believes she is ready for love, she is also hoping that she gets to meet her one true love in the party. As in any movie, there is always a twist to make the story interesting.

 It turns out that there’s a Marriage Law in Genovia whereby an unmarried woman can’t be Queen. This starts the pressure on Princess Mia. She must find a suitable man to marry in time for her assumption to the throne. To make it more difficult, another party is out to grab the crown from her by scheming all sorts of things.

In her search for an eligible bachelor to marry, she is presented all kinds of gentlemen until she finally settles with the nerdy English nobleman Andrew (definitely not my Prince Andrew).

Her clumsiness like her ring flying from her finger while waving makes her endearing, just like in Princess Diaries 1.

I just love the scene where she practices archery to prepare her for the shooting of the flaming arrow to the coronation ring. The similarity of her finally shooting the bull’s eye to the heart of her Prince Charming, Nicholas, is simply lovely.

Nicholas, the antagonist’s  partner in crime, turns against his uncle as he has fallen for Princess Mia.

Her bridal slumber party with the princesses from all over the world in attendance is also not to be missed. You should see the Queen singing these meaningful words to Princess Mia,  “You are terribly blessed with a heart of gold. I like your heart of gold best for it is your crowning glory. The most glorious part of you.”

Her doing something impulsive just before her wedding day makes Princess Mia all human. Running away on horseback to the woods with the man she love is not only visually appealing but is just so romantic. But like in real life, we have to face the morning after. Princess Mia was disappointed to wake up to them being photographed in each other’s arms and landing on national TV due to a royal scandal. She concludes that Nicholas set her up and that he does not really love her.

While dilly dallying in marrying Andrew, the Queen reminds Princess Mia not to repeat the same mistakes  she (the Queen) made, like sacrificing her personal happiness because of duty to country.

Indeed, “the heart does things which reason can’t understand.”

The movie is a royal treat. As Meg Cabot, the best- selling author of the Princess Diaries books aptly put it: “Being a princess is more of an attitude, really than a way of life. And you know, even though there aren’t enough countries on the planet for each one of us to get a chance to reign supreme, it’s possible for all of us at least to act like a princess, even if some of you will never actually be one (and believe me, you are way better off that way).”