Meg Cabot Just Revealed A Ton Of Behind-The-Secrets About "The Princess Diaries" Movie And 9-Year-Old Me Is Freaking Out

The movie originally had a completely different title.

In the past couple of weeks, we've been blessed with a good ol'-fashioned stroll down Princess Diaries memory lane. For example, we learned the truth about that hilarious bleachers scene, not to mention that Sandra Oh re-created her most iconic line from the movie.

Walt Disney Co. / ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection

Well, hold on to your crowns, PD fans, because the author of the series, Meg Cabot, just revealed a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes secrets about the movie:

1. By now, most people know that Whitney Houston produced the movie. But what they probably don't know is that she signed on before the book had even been published!

OK let's just pause for a moment of silence to thank Whitney Houston, without whom The Princess Diaries movie would not have been made. She (and @debramchase) snatched up my unpublished manuscript and got the royal dream started 👑 #R29MovieClub

09:07 PM - 28 May 2020

2. The original title of the movie was supposed to be The Princess of Tribeca...

3. ...but it was renamed when director Garry Marshall changed the setting of the movie from New York to San Francisco, to be closer to his granddaughters.

4. Speaking of, his granddaughters actually had a cameo in the film — the twins played the little girls who asked for Mia's autograph!

5. The part where Mia's mom started dating her teacher was based on real life. After Meg's father died, her mother later married one of her teachers, which is actually what inspired her to write The Princess Diaries in the first place.

@Refinery29 Thank you for pointing this out. A lot of people think the movie is about a princess. It is about a girl whose mom is dating her teacher!!!

09:20 PM - 28 May 2020

6. Meg initially thought Mandy Moore had been cast as Mia...

7. ...and she didn't meet Anne Hathaway until Anne recorded the audiobook for The Princess Diaries.

I later met Anne Hathaway when she was recording the books on tape for the Princess Diaries (she narrates the first three books in the series) and then I knew she was the perfect Mia #R29MovieClub

09:13 PM - 28 May 2020

8. Speaking of, Caroline Goodall, who played Mia's mom, recorded a version as well!

9. They sometimes used a robotic stand-in for Fat Louie, because the real cat couldn't keep still. Typical cats!

10. The iconic "SHUT UP!" line wasn't in the books...

11. ...and neither was the letter Mia reads from her dad, which was written just for the movie by screenwriter Gina Wendkos.

12. Gina and Meg both wanted the tiara Fat Louie wore for their respective cats, but neither of them were able to keep it.

13. At the premiere, Meg teared up when the Genovian national anthem was sung because they paid someone "to write the national anthem of a country I made up!"

14. And finally, the weirdest question Meg gets asked about the movie has to do with that corndog*, LOL.

The number one question I get about the PD movie is whether or not the corndog Julie and Anne eat is vegan. And the answer is, I don't know! #R29MovieClub

10:03 PM - 28 May 2020

*I guess they were both vegan at some point? But the movie was filmed 20 years ago, so who knows what was what!

So many juicy tidbits from such an iconic film! What's your favorite Princess Diaries moment? Tell us in the comments!

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