Despite the regality of the title, this is a downmarket comedy with its box-office intentions very much aimed at the pre-teen market. Julie Andrews projects her usual sweet-faced radiance as Queen Clarisse Renaldi of Genovia - and revives memories of her My Fair Lady on Broadway - in another variation on the Pygmalion story. The Eliza Doolittle character here is San Francisco schoolgirl Mia Thermopolis - played for sympathy rather than understanding by Anne Hathaway - who's so clumsy that she's always at the mercy of cheerleader bullies. But when the gauche geek finds out she's next in line to the throne of a small European country, she receives a royal makeover from her new-found grandmother. As he did with his biggest box-office hit, Pretty Woman, director Garry Marshall has a wish-fulfilling romance on his hands, but on this occasion he is too interested in humdrum school scenes rather than the dilemmas of an ugly duckling-made-royal. Thank heavens for a performance of class from Andrews.

A socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl being raised by a single mom discovers that she is the princess of a small European country because of the recent death of her long-absent father, who, unknown to her, was the crown prince of Genovia. She must make a choice between continuing the life of a San Francisco teen or stepping up to the throne.