Julie Andrews Makes Rare Appearance After Retiring From Onscreen Roles

Anne Hathaway Reacts to Julie Andrews’ Absence From ‘Princess Diaries 3’

Julie Andrews was certainly not late—everyone else was simply early.

Nearly three months after the Princess Diaries alum shared that she had retired from onscreen acting roles, she made a rare appearance in The Hamptons.

During the Oct. 16 outing in New York, Andrews sported a purple rain jacket over a white coat as she exited the passenger side of a car. She paired the look with a white baseball cap and set of pink-shaded sunglasses.

While the 91-year-old has tended to keep out of the spotlight in recent years—last appearing on a red carpet in 2023—she recently made the royal decree that her on-camera days are over.

“I think the absolute truth is that I think I’m really past all that now,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in August. “I’m not completely retired, but it’s a different kind of work that I do these days—[writing] books, and I do a lot of recording of podcasts and voiceovers.” 

Indeed, the Oscar winner has written three dozen children’s books with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton and continues to reign as Lady Whistledown, the queen of Bridgerton gossip and the show’s narrator. 

And though she said it’s “still lovely to be working on things,” she emphasized her preference is not doing that work “necessarily on camera.” 

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“It isn’t that I’m not enthusiastic for it,” the Mary Poppins actress explained. “It’s just that I really don’t feel I should be part of it now.”

Of course, heartbreak abounded as fans learned that Andrews’ departure from her life in front of the camera means that she won’t appear alongside Anne Hathaway in the upcoming Princess Diaries threequel.

“[The film’s creative team] asked me all last year if I would be keen to do it,” the Broadway star told InStyle in an interview published Aug. 10. “It was very, very hard to say ‘no,’ but I did because I thought I had a wonderful ride, and this one I felt would flourish very well and wouldn’t need Granny going in there at my age.”

Andrews will, however, appear in what Disney referred to as the “definitive” documentary about her life, set to be released next year. 

“I’m a little nervous,” she told Today.com in August. “But I figure at this age of mine now, it’s probably the time to have agreed to do it.”

Read on for a look back at Andrews’ life through photos. 

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