The Princess Diaries is a classic Disney film that put Anne Hathaway on the map in 2001. A coming-of-age comedy about Mia Thermopolis, an average girl who learns she's long-lost European royalty, the film and its 2004 sequel were based on a series of novels by Meg Cabot. Unfortunately, however, one big change was made to Meg's love life.
In the original film, she crushes on Michael Moscovitz. But his character is nowhere to be seen in the sequel, The Princess Bride 2: Royal Engagement, despite being fairly prominent in the source material. The reason for Michael's absence had an entirely real-world explanation, and it led to Mia instead romancing Nicholas Deveraux, played by Chris Pine.
Who Is Michael Moscovitz in The Princess Diaries?
Played by Robert Schwartzman, Michael is Mia's primary love interest in the book series, as well as her final love interest in the 2001 film. Being the older brother of Mia's best friend, Lilly, Michael is musically adept and even has his own band. Secretly, he had a crush on Mia before the events of the first Princess Diaries movie. He even fixed her car and generally had feelings for her when she still had a more drab and unconventional appearance.
That results in the two finally getting together by the movie's end, with Mia even receiving a perfect, foot-popping kiss. She notes how Michael saw her when she was invisible, and she clearly appreciates how much he already cared for her. Given the events of the books, it would seem that Michael was set up for a bigger role in the second movie. Sadly, this didn't come to pass, and it's because of the actor's other, not-so-royal engagements.
Why Michael Didn't Appear in The Princess Diaries 2
The Princess Diaries was released in 2001, with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement arriving three years later, in 2004. However, by the time the second film was heading into production, Schwartzman was unavailable to reprise his role as Michael because he was on tour with his real-life band, Rooney. Therefore, Michael was written out of Royal Engagement, with the explanation that his band was on tour.
That meant Mia got a new love interest in the form of Nicholas. Although Nicholas begins by acting antagonistically, he changes once he gets to know Mia. While The Princess Diaries 3 is confirmed, it's unknown if Pine or Schwartzman will return to romance Mia Either way, hopefully, Michael Moscovitz isn't still on tour by this point.