Julie Andrews, the English actress whose career has spanned nearly eight decades and produced some of the most beloved performances in film history, says she considers herself largely past on-camera acting and does not expect to return for the third installment of The Princess Diaries.
Andrews, 90, confirmed in an interview published by The Hollywood Reporter on Aug. 11 that she will not be reprising her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in the planned sequel. She appeared in the original 2001 film opposite Anne Hathaway and returned for the 2004 sequel, and her absence from the third film marks a meaningful generational shift in the franchise.
She described her current phase of life as a different kind of work rather than retirement, one focused on book projects, podcast recordings and voiceover work that keep her connected to audiences without the physical and logistical demands of a film set. She said her decision not to join the new film is not a matter of enthusiasm but of honest self-assessment about what she should be part of at this stage.
A career that defined an era
Andrews earned the Academy Award for Best Actress for her debut film performance in Mary Poppins in 1964, and the following year she starred in The Sound of Music, which became one of the highest-grossing films in history at the time of its release.
The combination of Andrews’s voice, her precise comic timing and a quality of warmth that translated across genre made her one of the most recognizable entertainers in the English-speaking world for decades. Andrews continued working well into her senior years, taking on the Queen Clarisse role in the Princess Diaries films at a time when many performers of her generation had stepped back entirely.
A vocal cord injury in the late 1990s, resulting from surgery, permanently altered the singing voice that had defined much of her early career. She has spoken about that loss with characteristic candor over the years, and the way she navigated it without retreating from public life became part of her broader legacy as a performer who adapted to circumstances rather than being defined by them.
The Princess Diaries 3 and what comes next
The third Princess Diaries film is in development with Hathaway expected to return as Mia Thermopolis and Adele Lim set to direct. The original films were produced by the late Garry Marshall, and the new installment will carry the franchise forward without two of its central figures from the first two films.
Her departure is consistent with what Andrews described as a genuine shift in how she approaches her professional life. The alternative creative work she cited, including books and voiceover projects, allows her to remain active and engaged at 90 without the physical demands that on-camera production places on performers of any age, let alone someone who has been working continuously for as long as she has.
The significance of the departure
Andrews is one of a small number of performers whose legacy is secure enough that her absence from a project she helped define carries genuine weight. The Princess Diaries was not her signature role in the way that Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music were, but it introduced her to a generation of audiences who encountered her work through those films before discovering the earlier catalog.
For that younger generation of fans, her confirmation that she is stepping back from on-camera work represents a genuine ending. It is not announced with fanfare, which is consistent with how she has always carried herself. She said what was true, acknowledged that the enthusiasm remains even as the circumstances have changed, and moved on to the next thing.
At 90, with a career that has encompassed Broadway, Hollywood, television, books and podcasts, the next thing is still something.
