Mia Thermopolis is an ordinary fourteen-year-old schoolgirl from New York. All she cares about are grades and lack of personal life. She has a crush on high school student Josh Richter and dreams of him asking her to the dance. But Mia's life changes upside down when her father suddenly comes to her and confesses that he is the prince of the small European country of Genovia. This means that Mia is a princess.