Fans of Meg Cabot will rejoice at the news that the franchise that catapulted Anne Hathaway into the hearts and minds of Americans will continue.
Several years back, Cabot took a break from her series The Princess Diaries, for which she has written 16 books. But she told the Wall Street Journal she’ll be returning to the character of Princess of Genovia Mia Thermopolis by writing a couple new books for pre-teens and one for adults:
The middle grade novel will center on a new character, Olivia Grace, a middle school girl from New Jersey who discovers that she’s Princess Mia’s long lost half-sister, and a royal descendent of the kingdom of Genovia. Like Mia, Olivia chronicles her transformation from civilian to princess in her journal. … A sequel is planned for the following year.
Ms. Cabot began working on “The Princess Diaries” spinoffs when she was in France last fall, on a yearlong sabbatical from writing that clearly didn’t stick. Since she had sworn off writing, she started sketching horses and other animals to amuse herself. Then, she saw a few news stories about Prince Albert of Monaco and the children he’s had out of wedlock, and imagined a scenario where Mia’s biracial half-sister, Olivia, is discovered. She decided to incorporate the drawings into Olivia’s notebook.
The idea for the adult novel came from repeated requests from fans, who often wrote to Ms. Cabot and asked if Mia could have a royal wedding to rival Prince William and Duchess Kate’s nuptials.
I stopped reading The Princess Diaries awhile ago because I found Mia sort of irritating (and grew up), but Cabot’s a pretty fun adult romance novel author (her book She Went All The Way is a particular favorite). And while I’m not chomping at the bit to read a new Princess Diaries book meant for middle schoolers or to see how Princess Mia’s life turned out, Cabot’s got tons of readers who will probably be ecstatic about this news.
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