{{Short description|Fictional diaries of royal women as children (1999–2005)}} {{Italic title}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} '''''The Royal Diaries''''' is a series of 20 books published by Scholastic Press from 1999 to 2005. In each of the books, a fictional diary of a real female figure of royalty as a child throughout world history was written by the author. ''The Royal Diaries'' was a spin-off of Scholastic's popular ''Dear America'' series. While ''Dear America'', ''My Name Is America'', and ''My America'' were all cancelled in 2004, ''The Royal Diaries'' continued until 2005.
Unlike ''Dear America'', which consisted of diaries of young girls living during pivotal periods in American history, ''The Royal Diaries'' is a series that features women of royalty from all over the world. The series is fictional, though it involves real historical figures. Facts and images concerning the historical figure featured in the book are given at the end of each of the books.
==Subjects== ''The Royal Diaries'' has covered many famous women in royalty, including Jahanara, Marie Antoinette, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, Isabella I of Castile, Cleopatra VII, the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, Catherine the Great, Empress Elisabeth, and Queen Victoria. The series has also covered less known women, such as Queen Seondeok of Silla, Anacaona of the Taínos, Weetamoo of the Pocassets, the Lady of Ch'iao Kuo of the Hsien, the Lady of Palenque of the Mayans, and Nzingha of Ndongo. It also covers the life and customs of these women. The target age for these books is nine to twelve.
==Books in the series== {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ List of ''The Royal Diaries'' books |- ! Release date !! Title !! Author |- | rowspan=2 | 1999 || ''Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544'' || {{sortname|Kathryn|Lasky}} |- | ''Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C.''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kristiana-gregory/cleopatra-vii/ |title=CLEOPATRA VII {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> || {{sortname|Kristiana|Gregory}} |- | rowspan=4 | 2000 || ''Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466'' || {{sortname|Carolyn|Meyer}} |- | ''Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France 1769'' || {{sortname|Kathryn|Lasky|nolink=1}} |- | ''Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914'' || {{sortname|Carolyn|Meyer|nolink=1}} |- | ''Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595'' || {{sortname|Patricia|McKissack}} |- | rowspan=3 | 2001 || ''Kaiulani: The People's Princess, Hawaii, 1889'' || {{sortname|Ellen Emerson|White}} |- | ''Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, Southern China, 531 A.D.'' || {{sortname|Laurence|Yep}} |- | ''Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England, 1829'' || {{sortname|Anna|Kirwan|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan=4 | 2002 || ''Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kathryn-lasky/mary-queen-of-scots/ |title=MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> || {{sortname|Kathryn|Lasky|nolink=1}} |- | ''Sŏndŏk: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, 595 A.D.'' || {{sortname|Sheri|Holman}} |- | ''Jahanara: Princess of Princesses, India, 1627'' || {{sortname|Kathryn|Lasky|nolink=1}} |- |''Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, France, 1136'' || {{sortname|Kristiana|Gregory|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan=3 | 2003 || ''Elisabeth: The Princess Bride, Austria-Hungary, 1853'' || {{sortname|Barry|Denenberg|nolink=1}} |- | ''Kristina: The Girl King, Sweden, 1638''|| {{sortname|Carolyn|Meyer|nolink=1}} |- | ''Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts–Rhode Island, 1653'' || {{sortname|Patricia Clark|Smith|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan=2 | 2004 || ''Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal, Mesoamerica, A.D. 749'' || {{sortname|Anna|Kirwan|nolink=1}} |- | ''Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan, 1858'' || {{sortname|Kathryn|Lasky|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan=2 | 2005 || ''Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490'' || {{sortname|Edwidge|Danticat}} |- | ''Catherine: The Great Journey, Russia, 1743'' || {{sortname|Kristiana|Gregory|nolink=1}} |}
==Television adaptations== Following the ''Dear America'' series, in 2000, HBO created three TV films based on three of the Royal Diaries books: ''Elizabeth I'', ''Isabel'', and ''Cleopatra VII''. Reruns of these adaptations later aired on Qubo. As of November 2025, they are available to stream on Tubi and The Roku Channel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tubitv.com/series/300016032/the-royal-diaries |title=The Royal Diaries |website=Tubi |access-date=November 7, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/e3b7a3bdecc0583c916f66802c424cb9/the-royal-diaries |title=The Royal Diaries (2000) |website=The Roku Channel |publisher=Roku, Inc. |access-date=November 7, 2025}}</ref>
In November 2021, it was reported that Legendary Television and Scholastic Entertainment were developing a new adaptation for television.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterson |first=Joe |date=November 5, 2021 |title='The Royal Diaries' TV Series in the Works From Legendary Television, Scholastic Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/legendary-television-scholastic-entertainment-the-royal-diaries-tv-series-exclusive-1235105961/ |website=Variety}}</ref>
{{Episode table |background=#00aa97 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |airdateR= |episodes={{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title = Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile |DirectedBy = Randy Bradshaw |WrittenBy = Lori Lansens |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|09|09}} |LineColor = 00aa97 |ShortSummary = Cast includes Elisa Moolecherry as Cleopatra, Hrant Alianak as Pharaoh, David Calderisi as Marcus Cicero, Linda Gizirian as Tryphaina, Matthew Witherly as Marc Antony, Jan Filips as Julius Caesar, Larissa Gomes as Berenice, and Yani Gellman as Olympus. }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title = Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor |DirectedBy = René Bonnière |WrittenBy = Ann MacNaughton |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|11|04}} |LineColor = 00aa97 |ShortSummary = Cast includes Tamara Hope as Elizabeth, Daniel Clark as Robin Dudley, Marion Day as Mary, Jefferson Mappin as King Henry, Jennifer Wigmore as Queen Catherine, and Susan Sheridan as Jane the Bald. }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title = Isabel: Jewel of Castilla |DirectedBy = William Fruet |WrittenBy = Barbara O'Kelly |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|12|20}} |LineColor = 00aa97 |ShortSummary = Cast includes Lisa Jakub as Isabel, Cara Pifko as Catalina Valera, Christopher Ralph as Fernando, Ken Staines as Juan Pacheco, and Barna Moncz as Alphonso. }} }}
==See also== {{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}} *''Dear America'' *''My America''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/royaldiaries ''The Royal Diaries'' at scholastic.ca]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Diaries, The}} Category:Book series introduced in 1999 Category:Children's book series Category:Young adult novel series Category:Children's historical novels Category:American historical novels Category:American children's novels Category:Fictional diaries Category:Fiction about monarchy Category:Novels about royalty Category:Depictions of Cleopatra in literature Category:Cultural depictions of Isabella I of Castile Category:Cultural depictions of Marie Antoinette Category:Cultural depictions of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Category:Novels depicting Queen Victoria Category:Cultural depictions of Eleanor of Aquitaine Category:Cultural depictions of Empress Elisabeth of Austria Category:Cultural depictions of Christina, Queen of Sweden Category:Cultural depictions of Catherine the Great