In quite the blow to millenials, the Anne Hathaway classic The Princess Diaries is approaching its 23rd anniversary later this year.
The Disney film was Anne’s first time in a leading role, which she described to People magazine as being a “very, very magical” experience.
As well as being the future Oscar winner’s first big break, you may have forgotten that it also starred Mandy Moore as mean girl Lana Thomas, while Sandra Oh played Vice Principal Gupta!
An iconic cast, we’re sure you’ll agree.
However, it turns out there was a bit of a surprising A-lister who worked on the film as a producer.
The singer on The Princess Diaries production team
While the dazzling cast was front-and-centre of the film, behind the scenes in production was no other than Whitney Houston.
The I Wanna Dance With Somebody singer, who also produced the Princess Diaries sequel, kept this somewhat under-wraps with even Netflix tweeting in 2018: “Excuse me, but I have to call everyone I’ve ever met and yell at them for not telling me Whitney Houston produced The Princess Diaries.”
Not only that but, according to writer Meg Cabot – who penned the book that the film is based on, as well as being on the writing team for the film – it would never have happened without Whitney.
Back in 2020, she posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying: “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“She (and Debra Martin Chase) snatched up my unpublished manuscript and got the royal dream started.”
The Princess Diaries films weren’t the only flicks that Whitney was involved in. She’s also credited as a producer on the Cheetah Girls films, another collaboration with Disney, as well as 2012′s Sparkle, which stars Jordin Sparks.
Anne Hathaway also cites Whitney as her biggest musical influence
“The musical artist who has changed my life the most would be Whitney Houston because she produced The Princess Diaries, the film that we were in together. And if there ever has been a voice in modern history that was probably touched by god, it’s hers,” Anne explained in an interview with People.
While Anne mostly sticks to acting, she is also a talented singer, winning an Oscar for her work in the musical Les Misérables, as well as performing on various TV series and award shows.
She did learn from the best!