The Royal Diaries

The Royal Diaries is the second spin-off of Dear America by Scholastic. It started in 1999 with Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor and ended in 2005 with Catherine: The Great Journey. Three of the books were adapted into films in 2000. The series has also been published in several languages and other international series.

The series tells fictionalized accounts of real-life historical figures during their adolescence. The Royal Diaries has covered several well known historical figures, such as Marie Antoinette and Anastasia, as well as the lesser known Lady of Ch'iao Kuo, Sŏndŏk, Anacaona, and Nzingha.

Background and topics[]

The Royal Diaries was launched by Scholastic in 1999 as a spin-off to Dear America. However, unlike Dear America, which focuses only on fictional girls living in America, The Royal Diaries features real historical figures of royal or high-ranking backgrounds from around the world. The series initially began by covering well known figures, such as Elizabeth I and Cleopatra VII, before branching out to lesser known women like Lady of Ch'iao Kuo, Lady of Palenque, and Anacaona. The series concluded in 2005 with Catherine: The Great Journey. Each cover of the original edition was illustrated by Tim O'Brien. In 2013, Scholastic re-released Anastasia and Marie Antoinette with new covers illustrated by Mélanie Delon.

List of books[]

Publication order[]

No.	Title	Author	Published	ISBN
1	Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor	Kathryn Lasky	June 1999^[1]	9780590684842
2	Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile	Kristiana Gregory	September 1999^[2]	9780590819756
3	Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles	Kathryn Lasky	April 2000^[3]	9780439076661
4	Isabel: Jewel of Castilla	Carolyn Meyer	July 2000^[4]	9780439078054
5	Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess	Carolyn Meyer	September 2000^[5]	9780439129084
6	Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba	Patricia C. McKissack	September 2000^[6]	9780439112109
7	Kaiulani: The People's Princess	Ellen Emerson White	April 2001^[7]	9780439129091
8	Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South	Laurence Yep	September 2001^[8]	9780439164832
9	Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia	Anna Kirwan	November 2001^[9]	9780439215985
10	Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country	Kathryn Lasky	April 2002^[10]	9780439194044
11	Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars	Sheri Holman	June 2002^[11]	9780439165860
12	Jahanara: Princess of Princesses	Kathryn Lasky	September 2002^[12]	9780439223508
13	Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine	Kristiana Gregory	November 2002^[13]	9780439164849
14	Elisabeth: The Princess Bride	Barry Denenberg	April 2003^[14]	9780439266444
15	Kristina: The Girl King	Carolyn Meyer	May 2003^[15]	9780439249768
16	Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets	Patricia Clark Smith	September 2003^[16]	9780439129107
17	Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal	Anna Kirwan	April 2004^[17]	9780439409711
18	Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven	Kathryn Lasky	September 2004^[18]	9780439164856
19	Anacaona: Golden Flower	Edwidge Danticat	April 2005^[19]	9780439499064
20	Catherine: The Great Journey	Kristiana Gregory	December 2005^[20]	9780439253857

Chronological order[]

See also: List of books by time period

No.	Title	Time period
1	Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile	57 – 55 BC
2	Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South	AD 531
3	Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars	AD 595
4	Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal	AD 749
5	Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine	1136 — 1137
6	Isabel: Jewel of Castilla	1466 — 1469
7	Anacaona: Golden Flower	1490
8	Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor	1544 — 1547
9	Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country	1553 — 1554
10	Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba	1595 — 1596
11	Jahanara: Princess of Princesses	1627 — 1631
12	Kristina: The Girl King	1638 — 1639
13	Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets	1653 — 1654
14	Catherine: The Great Journey	1743 — 1745
15	Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles	1769 — 1771
16	Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia	1829 — 1831
17	Elisabeth: The Princess Bride	1853 — 1854
18	Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven	1858 — 1862
19	Kaiulani: The People's Princess	1889 — 1893
20	Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess	1914 — 1918

International editions[]

Korean-box-set — Box-set of the Korean edition

Books in The Royal Diaries series have been republished and translated for release in several different countries:

In Spanish, the series was titled Diarias de Reinas y Princesas and published by Salamandra.
Polish editions of the books were published under the series title, Pamiętniki Księżniczek, by Świat Książki.
The series was translated into Greek by Μontepnoi Κaipoi.
In South Korea, The Royal Diaries was translated in Korean as 궁중 일기 by Lee Na-gyung (이나경).
The series was translated into Thai under the title, บันทึกราชนารี.
Some of the books were also republished in the international series: Mon Histoire (French), Diari nella storia (Italian), the My Story spin-off My Royal Story, and History Behind the Diary (Mandarin).

Adaptations[]

Main article: The Royal Diaries (film series)

In 2000, three books in The Royal Diaries, Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, and Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, were made into television films and aired on HBO. They were released on video cassette and later on DVD in 2008.^[21]

In November 2021, it was announced that a television series was in development between Scholastic Entertainment and Legendary Television.^[22]

References[]

External links[]

The Royal Diaries page at Scholastic (archive)
The Royal Diaries page at Scholastic Canada (archive)
The Royal Diaries on Wikipedia

[1] ttps://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-House-Tudor-England-Diaries/dp/0590684841/

[2] ttps://www.amazon.com/Cleopatra-VII-Daughter-Egypt-Diaries/dp/0590819755/

[3] ttps://www.amazon.com/Royal-Diaries-Antoinette-Versailles-Austria-France/dp/0439076668/

[4] ttps://www.amazon.com/Isabel-Jewel-Castilla-Spain-Diaries/dp/0439078059/

[5] ttps://www.amazon.com/Royal-Diaries-Anastasia-Duchess-Russia/dp/0439129087/

[6] ttps://www.amazon.com/Nzingha-Warrior-Matamba-Angola-Africa/dp/0439112109/

[7] ttps://www.amazon.com/Kaiulani-Peoples-Princess-Hawaii-1889/dp/0439129095/

[8] ttps://www.amazon.com/Lady-Chiao-Kuo-Southern-D/dp/0439164834/

[9] ttps://www.amazon.com/Royal-Diaries-Victoria-Blossom-Britannia/dp/0439215986/

[10] ttps://www.amazon.com/Mary-Queen-Scots-Without-Country/dp/0439194040/

[11] ttps://www.amazon.com/Sondok-Princess-Stars-Royal-Diaries/dp/0439165865/

[12] ttps://www.amazon.com/Royal-Diaries-Jahanara-Princess-Princesses/dp/0439223504/

[13] ttps://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-Crown-Aquitaine-France-Diaries/dp/0439164842/

[14] ttps://www.amazon.com/Elisabeth-Austria-Princess-Bride-Diaries/dp/0439266440/

[15] ttps://www.amazon.com/Kristina-Girl-Sweden-Royal-Diaries/dp/0439249767/

[16] ttps://www.amazon.com/Weetamoo-Pocassets-Massachusetts-Island-Diaries/dp/0439129109/

[17] ttps://www.amazon.com/Lady-Palenque-Mesoamerica-D-Diaries/dp/0439409713/

[18] ttps://www.amazon.com/Kazunomiya-Prisoner-Heaven-Japan-Diaries/dp/0439164850/

[19] ttps://www.amazon.com/Anacaona-Golden-Flower-Haiti-1490/dp/0439499062/

[20] ttps://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Great-Journey-Russia-Diaries/dp/0439253853/

[21] ttps://www.amazon.com/Royal-Diaries-Tamara-Hope/dp/B0016MJ6EW/

[22] ttps://variety.com/2021/tv/news/legendary-television-scholastic-entertainment-the-royal-diaries-tv-series-exclusive-1235105961/

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