Blink and you'll miss it!
In a new video uploaded to TikTok, @SydneyPearl98 points out an unexpected connection between The Princess Diaries and Pretty Woman.
As the eagle-eyed viewer notes, there's a scene in the 2004 sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in which Mia Thermopolis (played by Anne Hathaway) gives a royal wave and loses her bracelet. Luckily, a nearby footman catches the accessory after it flies off and tells her, "It happens all the time."
So, what's the big deal? Well, as the social media sleuth explains, there's a very similar scene in Pretty Woman. At one point in the 1990 movie, Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) accidentally flicks a piece of escargot while dining at a restaurant. It's caught by a waiter who tells her, "It happens all the time."
But wait, there's more. The same guy also plays a waiter in the 2001 original The Princess Diaries. As BuzzFeed noted in April 2020, when TikTok user @karlymaas spotted the similarities, he makes a cameo after Mia taps her glass to get everyone's attention at a state dinner and shatters it, telling her (you guessed it), "It happens all the time."
Coincidence? Maybe not.
@sydneypearl98 I’m gonna be so embarrassed if I’m the only one just now figuring this out ?? ##princessdiaries ##prettywoman ##fyp ##foryoupage ##foryou ##movieclips
? original sound - SydneyPearl98
As it turns out, the mystery man in all three of these scenes was played by the same actor: Allan Kent. As fans are well aware, Garry Marshall directed both Princess Diaries movies and Pretty Woman. And according to BuzzFeed, the late filmmaker intentionally brought Kent on for the movies as a little Easter egg. In fact, Kent appeared in many of Marshall's other films, including Runaway Bride, Frankie and Johnny and The Other Sister.
Mystery solved!