More than a year after scoring with the ABC version of "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella," Whitney Houston is back in the princess business.

Disney has optioned novelist Meg Cabot's book "The Princess Diaries" for the pop singer's production company Brownhouse Prods. to develop into a family-oriented feature film.

Scheduled to be published in hardback by Avon's young adult line this coming June, "Princess" is said to read like a hip, urban version of "Eloise." It tells the story of feisty and rebellious 16-year-old Mia, who discovers much to her dismay that she is in fact the princess of a small European country. As a result, Mia must suffer though the indignity of "princess lessons" at the hands of her stern grandmother.

The picture is on the fast track at Disney, with the manuscript out to screenwriters. Houston will serve as a producer. Disney paid a mid- to low- six figure sum for the rights.

Brownhouse's upcoming feature productions include "Get Christy Love" and "Anything for You" at Universal and "Thirty Years to Life" at Fox.