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Anne Hathaway is standing by Julie Andrews in her decision not to reprise her role in Princess Diaries 3.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Hathaway responded to her costar's confirmation that she is not returning for the third installment of the beloved franchise. The two actresses both appeared in the original 2001 movie The Princess Diaries and its 2004 sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
Hathaway explained that everyone would be overjoyed to have Andrews return to the Princess Diaries world, but they respect her choice.
"First of all, I just want to say if she has a change of heart, we're down," she said. "But we also want to be respectful. For goodness sakes, if anybody has contributed to the world of entertainment and to our collective joy, it's her."
The Odyssey star added that the team "[pushed] really hard to see if [Andrews] would want to do it," but they "completely understand" and support the legendary actress in her decision, per E! News.
Earlier this month, Andrews, 90, confirmed to Today that she will not reprise her role as former Queen Clarisse Renaldi in Princess Diaries 3 and that they story should continue on with Hathaway's Queen Mia.
"It was very, very hard to say no but I did," she said, adding of the franchise, "I had a wonderful ride and this one I felt would flourish very well and wouldn't need Granny going in there at my age."