Princess Diaries 2—Royal Engagement

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Princess Diaries 2—Royal Engagement's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Princess Diaries 2—Royal Engagement completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 20 September 2004.

Overall comments and recommendations

Princess Diaries 2—Royal Engagement is a slight twist on the old fashioned fairytale romance. Adults may find it a predictable and over-long, but the target audience of young girls are likely to enjoy the comic storyline, the attractive protagonists, and the ‘postcard perfect’ presentation of Genovia.

There are no significantly scary or violent aspects to this movie; however the political and legal arguments made may be a little complex for younger children and may require some parental guidance.

The content of this movie is appropriate for and should be understood for children over 8 years with or without parental guidance.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Princess Diaries 2—Royal Engagement contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Twenty one year old Mia ( the ugly duckling transformed into a swan in The Princess Diaries) has just graduated from college in the USA and plans to return to the small country of Genovia , where she will assume her role as Princess Mia. Her grandmother, Queen Clarisse, intends to step down and pass on her crown and kingdom to Mia. At a welcoming ball in her honour, during which she demonstrates her customary clumsiness and charm, Mia is introduced to many eligible royal bachelors. One such gentleman, to whom she is immediately attracted, introduces himself as Nick.

While exploring the castle the next day, Mia stumbles upon a secret chamber from which she is able to overhear a parliamentary session. She learns that the ambitious Viscount Mabray believes his nephew, Lord Devereaux, to be the rightful heir to the thrown. Parliament decides that for Mia to become Queen, she must obey the longstanding Genovian law that states that a Queen can only reign with a husband, and if she is unable to find one within 30 days, Lord Devereaux will be King.

Mia agrees under duress and a sense of duty to meet with the eligible Lord Devereaux, and on discovering he is in fact the dashing Nick, she feels betrayed and outraged. She decides to find a more suitable husband herself. Mia also tries to understand better the needs of the people of Genovia, and in doing so, learns about the responsibilities that being Queen entails.

After a speedy courtship with a pleasant Duke, under the constant eye of the paparazzi, Mia becomes engaged. However, the attraction between Mia and Nick remains, which only grows as they continue to run into each other at the royal activities leading up to the wedding. Several crises of state and the heart occur days before the Royal wedding, as Mia decides which path she will take.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

Violence is minimal in this movie. It is used to comic effect when Mia angrily stomps on Lord Devereaux’s foot on discovering he is also Nick. Also, when learning archery, Mia’s shooting technique results in many near misses for her ever-present staff, and she accidentally elbows her coach in the chest.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

There are no scenes that are particularly scary for young children. When Mia stumbles upon the secret chamber, the lighting and music suggest a scary mood, but Mia herself is excited by, not fearful of, her adventure. Viscount Mabray’s bad intentions and behaviour towards his nephew, including when he yells at him, may concern some young children.

Over the age of eight

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

There is nothing in this movie that would scare a child over 8 years of age.

Sexual references

There are some mild sexual references.

When selecting potential husbands, Mia and her friends watch a slideshow of eligible royals. She finds one man attractive and states “He’s nice”, to which her chief bodyguard replies “And his boyfriend thinks so too”.

Mia and Nick flirt and kiss through her engagement to another man. The day before the wedding, after a ramble through the woods overnight, they wake up lying next to each other (fully clothed).

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no explicit sexual activity or nudity in this movie.

Use of substances

There is no drug use in this movie. Champagne is used to toast Princess Mia, but she herself does not drink it.

Coarse language

Queen Clarisse says “Shut Up!” in parliament (resembling her granddaughter’s use of the phrase in the original movie).

The movie's message

A number of messages can be read into this movie, such as that justice prevails for those with good intentions, and that a woman can be guided and supported by men, but she need not be ruled by them.

Values to encourage are friendship and loyalty, responsibility to friends, family and country, females in leadership roles and equal opportunity.

The following content could be used by parents to discuss with their children what their own family’s values are, and what the real life consequences can be of some actions and attitudes:

Viscount Mabray endorsing cheating; lying and manipulation, hurtful gossiping, girls not wearing helmets while rollerblading and mattress-surfing.