ROYAL TREATMENT THE REDOUBTABLE JULIE ANDREWS TWEAKS HER IMAGE IN A RETURN TO G-RATED FARE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

It seems like the ultimate movie no-brainer, casting Julie Andrews as an elegant queen in the sugary Disney comedy ``The Princess Diaries.''

She was, after all, a reigning queen of musical theater on both sides of the Atlantic for more than four decades, before a botched 1998 throat operation silenced her wonderfully freakish, four-octave singing voice. She's also movie royalty, due to the enduring appeal of her mid-1960s family perennials ``Mary Poppins'' and ``The Sound of Music.'' There's certainly a regal quality to Andrews' lilting speaking voice and gracious manners. She's even now, officially, a Dame in the whole British scheme of things.

But Andrews dismisses the royal appellations as, at worst, delusional and, at best, greatly exaggerated.

``I'm not at all, I assure you,'' Andrews says, laughing heartily, about her noble image. ``I'm really from the wrong side of the tracks. My heritage is good old peasant stock. But I think it's the fact that I'm English, to some extent, and probably because I speak funny. I really don't know; it's just the image that's been created over the years, coupled with just having been around this long.''

At 65, Andrews has been in show business for more than half a century, ever since her music hall-performing mother and stepfather discovered the big capabilities of their little girl's voice.

She was still a teen-ager when she made her smash Broadway debut in ``The Boyfriend.'' A few years later, she made theatrical history as ``My Fair Lady's'' first Eliza Doolittle, a performance that so impressed Lerner and Loewe, they wrote ``Camelot'' with her in mind.

Hollywood was, infamously, less impressed, and hired Audrey Hepburn (singing voice dubbed by Marni Nixon) to play Eliza in the 1964 ``My Fair Lady'' movie. But Walt Disney gave Andrews the last laugh by handing her her own indelible film debut as the magical nanny ``Mary Poppins'' that same year, for which she won the best actress Oscar.

There's more, much more. But that list alone is enough to awe anybody. And Andrews' young ``Princess Diaries'' co-stars duly were.

All hail the queen

``This is going to sound so corny, but Julie Andrews is practically perfect in every way,'' notes newcomer Anne Hathaway, who makes her movie debut as the title diary-keeper. ``Everyone always says, 'Oh, we have to sit up a little bit straighter, it's Julie Andrews,' and I was like that when I first met her. But the thing I didn't understand is, at her very core, she's just Jules, the nicest, most genuine person who can just joke around and have the greatest time with whatever she's doing.''

In the new film, Andrews plays Queen Clarisse Renaldi of the European principality Genovia. When her son and heir to the throne dies, she comes to San Francisco to convince the teen-age granddaughter she's never met to accept the crown, which will otherwise fall into the clutches of not very nice rivals. The trouble is, Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), the result of a college liaison between the prince and her single mom (Caroline Goodall), had no idea that her absent dad - and by extension, herself - was royal. And easily embarrassed, Mia is not exactly thrilled with the attention-attracting revelation, nor with Grandma's attempts to turn her all-American dweebish self into a properly groomed and mannered princess.

Andrews acknowledges that her reputation precedes her most everywhere she works. But it's not a problem to overcome it.

``They were kind of in awe for about five minutes, then we all bonded,'' she says of her young co-stars in the new film, who include teen pop singer Mandy Moore and ``Welcome to the Dollhouse'' punkette Heather Matarazzo. ``And they're so smart, today's kids; so much smarter than I was at their age.''

That's Jules, always ready with the sincerely expressed compliment. Still her statement acknowledges her life hasn't always been perfect.

``My mum was great in that sense,'' she says of her early professional guidance. ``She said, 'Don't you ever get a swollen head,' and, 'I don't want you complaining and misbehaving.' It was pretty good advice. And they were very sensible about keeping me protected - I mean, I brought my fan mail home as a kid because I got some odd letters from cranky people that were not appropriate for the age I was at, my salary was well taken care of - so they did a pretty good job for me until I was about 15 and went out on my own in vaudeville.

``Was it easy? No. Do I wish I'd had a better education? Absolutely. I'd have loved to have gone to college and done those kinds of things. But it's the way it was, and here I am. I don't put it down.''

Reworking an image

Andrews says the same about ``Poppins'' and ``Sound of Music,'' the movies that made her an icon - and trapped her in that goody-goody image, to the point where her more dramatic film work of the 1960s (Alfred Hitchcock's ``Torn Curtain,'' the Paddy Chayefsky-scripted ``Americanization of Emily'') was not taken seriously.

That particular reputation was not overcome until director Blake Edwards, with whom she celebrates 32 years of marriage this year, cast her in a series of sophisticated adult comedies in the late '70s and early '80s. Those included ``10,'' the notorious Hollywood satire ``S.O.B.'' (for which Andrews good-naturedly exposed her breasts) and the gender-bending ``Victor/Victoria,'' which Edwards and Andrews later developed into a long-running Broadway show.

``In the early days of my film career, because of the success of the more family-oriented movies, I was not thought of as much for other roles,'' Andrews recalls. ``Then along came Blake Edwards, who knew me better, who could see past that. He single-handedly helped me get past that. But it wasn't a conscious thing. 'S.O.B.' may have seemed like a conscious effort, but I just thought it was a funny idea. It did help put aside that sweetness that everybody thought was nothing but treacle, though. And now, I think the body of work, hopefully, speaks for itself.''

It does, albeit with a smidgen of irony. Thirty-seven years after she started in one, Andrews is back doing a Disney family film.

``It's not unimportant to me,'' she says of ``Princess' '' G-rated attitude. ``I think a lot of movies are very valid, but I'm just very glad to be part of this kind of entertainment. Obviously, my early years were all to do with that kind of thing, 'Sound of Music' and 'Poppins' and so on. No drugs there! Although, did you ever see the color of Mary Poppins' petticoats? She had a secret life, I assure you.''

Back in the swing

Many will view ``Princess'' as Andrews' post-operation comeback. But that isn't quite the case. She appeared in a British film adaptation of Noel Coward's ``Relative Values'' last year and, earlier this spring, did a live television broadcast of ``On Golden Pond,'' which marked her first reunion with Christopher Plummer since they made ``Sound of Music'' together. She'll be seen next playing, well, Julie Andrews in the comedy ``Who Shot Victor Fox,'' directed by P.J. Hogan (``My Best Friend's Wedding'').

More than pleased to be acting again, Andrews doesn't want to get anybody's hopes up about the singing thing.

``I'm taking steps toward it, exploring every single avenue that I can,'' she says of repairing the remarkable pipes. ``My speaking voice is so much better than it was, it makes me optimistic about it.''

Reports of Andrews singing at a Hollywood function a few months back were, according to her, rather overly optimistic.

``People like to think that I did, but I didn't,'' she explains. ``I spoke-sang the way Rex Harrison would, in a key that was down in my boots!''

Another joy in Andrews' life is writing children's books, among them the ``Little Bo'' and ``Dumpy'' series, sometimes in collaboration with her daughter from her first marriage, Emma Walton.

``I always have loved to write, and it's beginning to be a main artery of my career,'' she says happily. ``I'm going to start my biography this year; I'm going to try to do it myself, but if I can't, at least I'll get it all down and hand it to someone to finish.''

Only seems proper. After all, every queen should have a book about herself.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) In the queen's image

Julie Andrews provides regal touch in `Princess Diaries'

(2 -- 3) Above, Julie Andrews keeps in step with Hector Elizando, her confidant in ``The Princess Diaries.'' Andrews plays a queen whose granddaughter, Anne Hathaway, above center, has to accept her noble birthright - and the assistance of Larry Miller.

(4) When Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) learns she's a real-life princess, her grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews), and her attendant (Hector Elizondo) begin to transform her into a lady of grace and elegance in ``The Princess Diaries.''

(5) Julie Andrews