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Grade: B

Verdict: Doesn't wear its crown as easily as its predecessor, but still a pleasant diversion for princesses of all ages.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

Taffeta, tiaras and the eternal tug of Bad Boys are front and center in "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," a movie that proves fairy tales can come true ... twice.

In director Garry Marshall's unexpected 2001 hit "The Princess Diaries," an insecure and frizzy-haired teenager named Mia (the adorable Anne Hathaway) was told by her grandmother Clarisse, aka Queen Clarisse (the more-than-adorable Julie Andrews) that she was the heir to the throne of Genovia. It's a quaint little country that suggests a cross between Epcot's version of Bavaria and the generic Ruritanian setting of any given 19th-century operetta.

In the new film, Mia has graduated from college and is ready to assume her duties as Genovia's new Queen. Her grandmother is also ready to step down and pursue her long-delayed romance with Joe (Hector Elizondo, simultaneously sexy and reassuring), a commoner and head of royal security.

There's only one hitch: By Genovian law, Mia must get hitched pretty quick or forfeit the throne -- a codicil that mustily applies to princesses, not princes. Whom is she to choose? Most of the technically available royalty is too young or too old or too gay or has been arrested too many times. Britain's Prince William, whom Mia would take in a nanosecond, is apparently off-limits. And then there's Nicholas (boy-band member knock-off Chris Pine), who has a flirtatious manner, a devilish grin and a claim of his own on the throne.

"Royal Engagement" doesn't have the irresistible hook of its predecessor, so a lot of what goes on is filler of varying degrees of quality until it's finally time (at more than two hours, too much time), for Mia to find her Prince Charming. There's the closet the size of the Ritz, a la "The Prince & Me," in which remote-controlled drawers reveal a conspicuous-consumption dream of zillions of designer sunglasses and rows of royal jewels. Or a slumber party with a plethora of princesses from around the world.

Most of what goes on is harmless fun. Not so harmless and not much fun is the royal treatment given product placement, with shamelessly obvious plugs for Coke, Minute Maid, Lacoste, the Discovery Channel and others.