Entertainment

There's a 'Parent Trap' Deleted Scene?!

by Rachel Simon

As a child of the '90s and a devoted fan of pre-disaster Lindsay Lohan, I pride myself on knowing everything there is about The Parent Trap . Quotes from all the scenes, how to do the handshake, the correct spelling of characters' names (it's Chessy, not Jessie!) — countless viewings on ABC Family have made me an expert when it comes to the 1998 comedy. So imagine my shock when I learned that there was a Parent Trap deleted scene available online that I had no idea was in existence. It was as bad as that time Annie didn't know who Leonardo DiCaprio was — well, almost. I mean, come on.

It appears that the clip was uploaded to Youtube way back in 2009, but chances are, most people, like me, never knew it existed. The Parent Trap's Wikipedia page talks about such a scene being filmed, but I figured it had been lost years ago on Nancy Meyers' cutting room floor. Thankfully, though, that's not the case, because the clip is amazing. Meant to air right after Hallie (as Annie) meets up with Martin at Heathrow, the scene follows their drive past London's landmarks — including Buckingham Palace, which Hallie convinces a reluctant Martin to let her see. So she gets out, starts chatting with a guard, and suddenly, the magic begins.

And by magic, I mean the guards getting into formation, Hallie looking hilariously confused, and the Queen stopping by for a chat as she leaves Buckingham Palace, because this is The Parent Trap's London and meeting royalty is considered a normal occurrence for an 11-year-old girl. Asked for her name, Hallie awkwardly stumbles ("Annie James! Not Hallie Parker!"), and in the ensuing minute, calls the Queen by the wrong title and forgets to curtsy. But it's all okay, because Her Majesty, Hallie, finds the girl adorable, and promises not to tell a soul about her errors. A moment later, she's off, and Hallie, Martin, and a handful of onlookers are left to freak out over what to happened.

It's a cute, funny scene, although it makes sense why it wasn't included in the final movie; several minutes devoted to Hallie's interaction with the Queen takes away from the main plot and doesn't exactly speed things along. Still, I am very glad it exists, if only for my viewing pleasure 16 years later. Now excuse me as I go re-watch it a dozen more times and memorize every word, because deleted or not, any Parent Trap scene that involves sarcastic Martin and innocent Lindsay Lohan is automatically my favorite thing.

Check out the scene below:

Image: Buena Vista