Anne Hathaway Gets Royal Treatment

As Anne J. Hathaway proceeded down Mass. Ave atop a fire engine red Bentley convertible, the fair-skinned actress did not seem to mind the chill of the falling snow as scantily clad, cross-dressing men from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals fawned over her.

Hathaway, star of “The Princess Diaries” and “Ella Enchanted,” is no stranger to assuming the trappings of royalty in her films—and yesterday, the Pudding treated its 2010 Woman of the Year with adulation befitting a princess.

Around 2:30 p.m., the parade began its crawl towards New College Theatre, where Hathaway attended a roast held in her honor and a preview of this year’s Pudding production, “Commie Dearest.”

During the roast, the theatrical organization’s president Clifford N. Murray ’10 called Hathaway “the second most famous Anne in the history of keeping a diary,” drawing hearty laughter from the audience.

Hathaway, who called the event “thrilling and wonderful,” may have been the star of the afternoon, but in order to officially collect the Pudding Pot, the starlet had to endure the cutting humor of the event’s hosts and the taunts of the wacky characters that populated the stage.

“What are a few of your favorite things?” Walter B. Klyce III ’10, dressed as Julie Andrews, asked Hathaway when he took the stage.

In response, Hathaway broke into song with several lines from famous film tunes, such as those from “The Sound of Music”—to which Klyce retorted, “I think what you mean to say was appearing topless in movies.”

When Klyce compared Hathaway’s breasts to “a couple of windsocks” dangling in the wind, the actress playfully peeked down her shirt.

Then, a man dressed as Puff the Magic Dragon took the stage to accost Hathaway, who was instructed to slay the creature by a man playing Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

“Dragon is the new plaid,” the actor said.

After the Pudding actors took their turns skewering Hathaway’s acting resume, she was presented with the gleaming, golden Pudding Pot. Hathaway delivered her prepared acceptance speech in rhyme before returning to her seat in the center of the theater to watch the preview of an upcoming Pudding production.

“My rump is swollen with pride,” Hathaway said in her speech.

As the Woman of the Year, Hathaway joins the ranks of Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, Julia Roberts, and last year’s winner Renee Zellweger.

Justin R. Timberlake, who has been named the Man of the Year, will be honored in a separate ceremony on Feb. 5. While the Grammy Award-winning singer will not be treated to a parade, the Pudding will hold a roast in his honor.

Photographers piled onto a truck ahead of the Bentley carrying Hathaway to snap pictures, and the media descended on Harvard’s campus yesterday to snag a close look at the 27-year-old actress, who has appeared on People Magazine’s list of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.

Despite the freezing temperature, Hathaway finished the parade with a toothy smile.

When asked if she had wished for warmer weather, Hathaway joked, “Personally with my skin tone, I probably would have gotten a sunburn, so the weather was perfect for me.”

—Staff writer Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at newcomer@fas.harvard.edu.