Anne Hathaway pushed hard for Julie Andrews to join Princess Diaries 3

Anne Hathaway has assured fans that she "did push really hard" for Julie Andrews to be a part of The Princess Diaries 3.

The 90-year-old acting legend, who played Hathaway's grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi in the first two films, recently confirmed that she will not be involved in the third instalment because she has retired from on-camera acting.

During a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, The Odyssey actress insisted that the creative team tried hard to get the Mary Poppins star involved but respect her decision.

"First of all, I just want to say if she has a change of heart, we're down," Hathaway said. "But we also want to be respectful. Like, for goodness sakes, if anybody has contributed to the world of entertainment and to our collective joy, it's her. Whatever she wants, we completely understand."

She added, "We did push really hard to see if she would want to do it."

In the 2001 original and its 2004 sequel, Hathaway played Mia Thermopolis, a high school student who discovers she's the princess of the fictional nation of Genovia, ruled by her grandmother (Andrews). The plot for the third film is currently under wraps.

The Devil Wears Prada star told the outlet that she wants the third instalment "to be fun" for the women who were children when the first film came out 25 years ago.

"I want them to feel like they're bringing their children to something that mattered to them, a core memory for them, something that was a part of their heart and their lives," she shared. "And that means doing it justice. And that means taking the time that it takes to really build it right. That's a lot of pressure, but I feel like this is a great team."

The Princess Diaries 3 is still in development and doesn't have a release date yet.