Anne Hathaway has celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of The Princess Diaries, telling fans: “Miracles happen…”

The Hollywood star, 38, shared a series of photos from the coming-of-age comedy, in which she played an American high school student who discovers she is the heir to the throne of Genovia, a fictional European kingdom.

Writing to her 20.4 million Instagram followers, she quoted Myra’s song Miracles Happen (When You Believe), which soundtracked her character Mia Thermopolis’s transformation from student into royalty.

She wrote: “Miracles happen… Happy 20th Birthday to #theprincessdiaries, AKA the film that launched a thousand sleepovers.”

Disney film The Princess Diaries, based on Meg Cabot’s 2000 novel of the same name, premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on July 29, 2001, and propelled Hathaway to international stardom.

It was a commercial success and grossed around 165 million US dollars worldwide with critics praising her performance.

The Duchess of York and her daughter Beatrice with Anne Hathaway and Dame Julie Andrews at the premiere of The Princess Diaries 2 (Michael Stephens/PA)

A sequel, titled The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, arrived in 2004 and saw Thermopolis graduate and return to Genovia in search of a suitor.

In January 2019, Hathaway confirmed a script was being written for a third film and that she, Dame Julie Andrews, and producer Debra Martin Chase were on board.