“The Princess Diaries 2- Royal Engagement” finds Princess Mia newly graduated from Princeton and returning home to Genovia to stay. She’s just turned 21 and is learning the ins and outs of ruling from her grandmother (played again by Julie Andrews). However, Mia’s return and upcoming coronation doesn’t make everyone happy.
Viscount Mabrey wants his nephew, another rightful heir to the throne, to be next in line. So the Viscount alerts parliament to the Genovian law that states an unmarried princess cannot be made queen. Queen Clarisse (Andrews) and Mia try to convince the parliament otherwise, but are given 30 days for Mia to find a suitable husband and get married.
Not only must Mia marry, but she must also learn all of the other queenly duties and rites of passage. Mia eventually meets a young man that agrees to marry her and that she genuinely likes, but she starts to fall for Nicholas, who she doesn’t realize is the Viscount’s nephew. Of course, she eventually finds out, but not before they’ve been photographed in a compromising position (the two accidentally fall asleep under a tree, where a photographer, hired by the Viscount, catches them and publishes the photos making Mia look less than princess-like).
Meanwhile, Queen Clarisse and her bodyguard Joe are growing closer. It is obvious that they have feelings for each other, but given their stations neither feels it is appropriate for them to act on it. But even their story has a happy ending.
In the end, Mia must decide what’s more important—sacrificing love or her duty to her country. Given it’s a G rated “happy” movie, it all works out in the end. There’s even a wedding, though probably not what you’d expect. This sequel is a worthy follow up to the original movie and while it does have a few moments of hokey-ness that might make adults cringe (such as the duet with Raven and Julie Andrews) girls will love it.
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