The Princess Diaries

The next morning, Mia finds her father at the dining room table. He says that they must talk about this, and Mia’s mother says that this whole thing “isn’t as bad as [Mia’s] making it out to be” (55). Mia refuses to budge, and she declares that she will NOT be the princess of Genovia. Instead, she plans to stay in New York and “finish high school,” then “join Greenpeace and help save the whales” (57). Her father becomes angry, and her mother tells her to think about “all the lovely things [Mia] could have if [she] went to live in Genovia” (56). Mia brushes them both off and leaves for school, but her father insists on having his bodyguard, Lars, drive Mia and Lilly to school. When Lars and Mia pick Lilly up, Lilly is suspicious, because Mia has obviously been crying, but Mia vaguely blames her father, and Lilly drops it. During homeroom, Mia decides, “Nobody can make me be a princess, not even my dad, if I don’t want to be one” (62). After school, Mia blows off algebra tutorials and spends the night at Lilly’s. When she calls home, her mother protests and says that her father still wants to talk to her, but Mia refuses. Her mother stresses that Mia has “pressing responsibilities here at home” (65), and Mia becomes angry, thinking of all the times she had to tell her mother to be responsible enough to pay the rent, or pick up groceries, or do the laundry. Most of all, Mia is angry that “in all of [her] fourteen years,” her mother never once thought to mention that “[Mia] might possibly end up being the princess of Genovia someday” (66), and she hangs up.

During the sleepover at Lilly’s, Mia thinks about all the ways the Moscovitzes’ home is different from hers. She thinks about how their maid remembers to buy groceries and how she “never find[s] moldy old containers of anything in the Moscovitzes’ refrigerator” (69), unlike her home. Lilly and Mia have a James Bond movie marathon, and Michael joins them. They start asking each other questions—“If it was the end of the world and you had to repopulate the planet but you could only choose one life mate, who would it be?” (71)—and Mia admits she would choose Josh. Michael becomes annoyed and says “[Lilly and Mia] [are] both idiots if [they] [think] Josh Richter would ever give [them] so much as the time of day” (72). Lilly asks Mia who she would pick: Michael or Josh. When they are alone, Mia says she would pick Josh. Mia privately admits to herself that it wouldn’t be so bad if she had to repopulate the planet with Michael, but “I’d never want Lilly to know that I feel that way about her brother” (75).

The next day, Mia stalls but finally returns home. Her mom and dad are waiting, and they propose what they call “the Thermopolis-Renaldo Compromise” (80): If Mia agrees to become Princess of Genovia and fulfill the duties that are expected of her, she will be allowed to stay in New York until she graduates from high school. Mia agrees. On Saturday night, Mia’s mom leaves for a date with Mr. Gianini, and Mia is stuck at home with her dad. Her father becomes sulky and withdrawn at the thought of his ex going on a date, so Mia “trie[s] to call Lilly a zillion times, but her phone [is] busy, which mean[s] Michael [is] probably home working on his ‘zine” (85). Mia messages Michael online and tells him to get off the internet so she can talk to Lilly, and Michael teases Mia for choosing Josh as a “postnuclear Armageddon lifemate” (87). Mia complains that Michael can be such a jerk sometimes, but he still complies with her request, and Lilly calls Mia. Mia is embarrassed that Lilly told Michael she chose Josh instead of him, but she decides not to bring it up.