Here's How Mia From 'Princess Diaries' Is Dealing With Quarantine In Genovia

Even Genovia, a fictional country, hasn't escaped the coronavirus pandemic unscathed, but thanks to swift action from the country's queen, the small European principality is doing well. At least well enough for Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot to share how Mia is quarantining in Genovia. For the last 16 days, Cabot has been sharing entries from Queen Mia's quarantine diaries on her official website, giving fans of the books and the Anne Hathaway film series long-awaited updates on their favorite characters. It's not quite the same as finally getting a third movie, but Mia's updates are still a welcome distraction.

Thanks to Mia's quick thinking, her country has been spared from the worst of the pandemic — despite her grandmother and her friends dancing on yachts prior to the lockdown being put into place. With her country largely at a standstill, the queen has been busy dealing with angry bakery owners and supervising her bustling family (she has twins with Michael) as they shelter in place at the palace. In her most recent diary entry, the former princess did reveal some exciting news: she's going to be the commencement speaker for The Royal Genovian Academy's graduating Class of 2020, even though she wasn't their first choice.

"I do think you should know that apparently you were not their first choice," the prime minister told her in Cabot's latest entry. "They asked Harry Styles first, and then some individuals I'd never heard of called Desus Nice and the Kid Mero. But they were all unavailable."

Recently, Cabot shared with Refinery29 that she had been working on The Corona Princess Diaries for weeks when she saw a meme on Twitter about fictional countries like Genovia having zero cases of COVID-19. The tweet made her laugh, but her goal for writing the entries are to show "that running a country (competently) during a pandemic is no joke ... but it can be done."

The author revealed that she's been using real life moments as inspiration for Mia's challenges, including the struggle of getting her grandmother to wear a mask. In fact, her grandmother's refusal to abide by social distancing orders led to an argument between Mia and her grandmother on day three of the diary entries. "You smoke, drink what I can only call excessive amounts of hard alcohol, and you never, ever observe social distancing, most especially with strangers, all of which makes you in the most at-risk category of anyone I know," Mia told her grandmother, before ordering her "to stay here in the palace, without any college boys to keep you company." Julie Andrews would never.

Princess Diaries fans having been waiting for news about the third movie since it was confirmed to have a script in place way back in 2017. And while Cabot's journal entries aren't quite the same as Hathaway return to the role of Mia, seeing how Genovia is handling a global crisis is the unexpected treat Princess Diaries devotees need right now.

If you think you’re showing symptoms of coronavirus, which include fever, shortness of breath, and cough, call your doctor before going to get tested. If you’re anxious about the virus’s spread in your community, visit the CDC or NHS 111 in the UK for up-to-date information and resources, or seek out mental health support. You can find all Bustle’s coverage of coronavirus here, and UK-specific updates on coronavirus here.