Meg Cabot returns to Genovia with new Princess Diaries graphic novel

Meg Cabot returned to Genovia with The Princess Diaries: The Graphic Novel, a full-color adaptation illustrated by Bethany Crandall that was released June 30, 2026, with a first printing of 150,000 copies and a list price of $24.99. HarperAlley, the HarperCollins imprint publishing the book, placed it in juvenile fiction comics and graphic novels and cast it as a fresh entry point for a franchise that began more than a quarter-century ago.

Cabot said on CBS Mornings that she was excited to revisit the characters from the original films and “introduce them to a new generation.” That pitch matches the publisher’s framing: HarperCollins described the graphic novel as a “lighthearted, bubbly reintroduction” to the property, a signal that the book is meant to do more than trigger nostalgia.

The story returns to Mia Thermopolis, the frizzy-haired New York City teenager who learns her father is the crown prince of Genovia, the European principality that has anchored the series since the original Princess Diaries novel was published in October 2000. The property reached a much larger audience with the 2001 Disney film adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, and the new graphic novel leans on that built-in recognition while shifting the format toward middle-grade readers.

That format change is central to the book’s commercial logic. Graphic novels have become a favored way to resell familiar intellectual property to younger readers who move through bookstores, libraries, and school shelves differently than the paperback audience that made the original novel a hit. Cabot’s official website also listed the title as a full-color graphic novel adaptation and gave June 30, 2026, as the availability date.

HarperCollins also tied the release to a preorder promotion offering a custom Genovia passport wallet, a merchandising hook that reinforces how legacy YA franchises are now being repackaged across formats, price points, and collectibles. For Cabot, the project restores Mia Thermopolis to the center of the brand; for the publisher, it keeps a millennial-era story moving through a newer generation of readers.