Shy high school student Mia Thermopolis resides with her Single parent, Helen, in a refurbished Fire station in San Francisco. Unpopular among her peers, Mia suffers from a fear of public speaking while harboring a crush on Josh Bryant, by whose popular girlfriend Lana Thomas she is often teased. Mia's only friends are Outcast (person) Lilly Moscovitz and Lilly's older brother, Michael, who secretly harbors feelings for her. Mia learns from her estranged paternal grandmother, Clarisse, that she is sole heir to the European kingdom of Genovia, having inherited the throne from her recently deceased father Philippe. Clarisse is determined to groom Mia into a refined princess so that she can one day rule the kingdom over which she currently presides. Overwhelmed by the discovery, Mia initially refuses until Helen convinces her to attend her grandmother's "princess lessons" on the condition that she need not make her final decision until the Genovian Independence Day Ball in three weeks' time.