This character, who will eventually wed Anakin Skywalker and give birth to Luke and Leia, has been the most important Star Wars figure we've known the least about. Carrie Fisher, who at one time was to be script doctoring the first prequel, has publicly said that the queen will be 14 years old in the first film. Natalie Portman has been called on to play the young queen for at least the first prequel. Sources at the San Diego Comic Con reported that Lucasfilm representative Steve Sansweet said Portman was chosen because of her ability to play younger and older characters. This would lead us to believe she will be the queen for all three, which is being reported by almost every reliable source...still no official word yet though. It was also stated by Natalie Portman on the Rosie O'Donnel show.

While not confirmed officially, it is apparent in the trailer that Natalie Portman plays "Queen Amidala" and "Padme Naberrie". Queen Amidala is her official title, along with the royal makeup and costumes seen above. Padmé Naberrie is the name she goes by in her plain clothes and while she is on the run. Lucasfilm registered the domain name www.amidala.com, www.padme.com, www.padme.net, amidala.net, www.naboo.com, and www.naboo.net. This seems to confirm the information Roderick Vonhogen and Harry Knowles received saying the queen's full name was Padmé Naberrie Amidala. The name "Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala" is also found registered by Lucasfilm in the US Trademark Database.

This comes from the back of the classic Leia figure which describes the Queen (courtesy of Sir Steve's):

A strong-willed warrior who fought for the Rebel cause with great courage, Princess Leia Organa was a natural born leader of the Rebel Alliance. The princess always carried herself with a regal air, whether taking part in the fiercest of battles, or participating in state ceremonies of the highest level. Although she was adopted at a young age into the Royal House of Alderaan, Leia was in fact a true princess, as her birth mother was Queen Amidala of Naboo. In her day, Amidala, also proved to be an adventurous spirit and a great heroine to her people when her planet faced it's greatest threat.

This comes from the back of the Queen Amidala action figure (courtesy of Sir Steve's):

The young and newly elected ruler of Naboo, Queen Amidala desperately attempts to save her planet from the greedy Trade Federation with help from Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Queen Amidala comes equipped with Blaster Pistols.

This comes from the back of the Padmé Naberrie action figure (courtesy of Sir Steve's):

As handmaiden to the young Queen Amidala of Naboo, Padmé Naberrie is a trusted advisor and privy to many important state secrets. Padmé Naberrie comes equipped with a Pod Race View Screen.

These were the audition requirements for the queen:

THE QUEEN: Eurasian/Latina girl 13-14. An enchanting young girl, already showing signs of blossoming into a sensual, exotic darkhaired beauty. By contrast, however, she has the reserve, political acumen, poise and bearing of a queen and ruler, together with a natural wisdom and sensitivity that cannot be taught. A strong, spirited, and highly intelligent girl, she is quick to learn the principals of justice and honor. She is a great leader and it is apparent to all.

The Official Star Wars Web Site updated their Episode I with a crew profile of prequel Casting Director, Robin Gurland.  At first glance, the update doesn't reveal much, but it does indeed contain some important information! Read the 5th paragraph carefully and you'll find the first official mention of the name of Natalie Portman's character, Padme.  See below...

Her quest began with brief summaries from writer-director George Lucas and Producer Rick McCallum. "I had thumbnail sketches of the characters from George to start with. Two months later I was working from the script itself." Gurland worked on finding players for the two youngest roles (Anakin and Padme) first, then moved on to the Jedi Knights eventually portrayed by Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson. Around these principal actors she built the rest of the cast. "By January 1997 or so, I was fully casting the whole film," she says.

As loyal readers will note, this confirms information reporting that Padme is a character name. Thanks to HOTT for quickly pointing out this update and information!  They also spelt McGregor wrong. : )

Alert readers Robert Wolper and Echo Three both informed us that an issue of Dark Horse's "Last Command" comic has a background tapestry in the second panel of page 14 which appears to bear the likeness of Queen Padmé. Robert got in touch with Dark Horse editor Peet Janes, and found out that the sketch is indeed of Natalie Portman's Padme character. The picture was only the artist's interpretation of Queen Padme, but it was approved by LucasFilm! Here's the picture, courtesy of Echo Three:

This passage from the Return of the Jedi novelization, spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, reveals a bit about the queen:

"When your father left, he didn't know that your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I knew he would find out eventually, but we wanted to keep you both as safe as possible. So I took you to live with my brother Owen, on Tatooine ... and your mother took Leia to live as the daughter of Senator Organa on Alderaan."

Bothan Spy

If you'll recall, George Lucas said in a recent Insider interview that the hairstyles in the prequels will be pretty wild in comparison to those in Episode 4. One informant said that Padme's hair will "put Leia's to shame".

The Bothan Spy sent in a report of what he saw in regards to the characters hair. Check it out:

"A lot of the hairdos are very 'Japanese'. Qui Gonn's hair is done up at the back like a Sumo Wrestler and has 'chopsticks' in it. I'm not joking now! Also, his hair is grey in the films. Natalie's hair has a very 'sculptured' look. In some scenes, for example, it does these flat loops, like a rolled up piece of A4 paper. Must've used a lot of gel! At the end scene, the celebration, her face is painted white, with a clown's tear under one eye and a small red heart centrally under her bottom lip. She has a huge neckpiece on similar to something Elizabeth I (Queen!) would've worn. Quite amazing. You'll love it."

This information was confirmed in the trailer and in the above shots.

Bothan Spy sent us the following regarding some of Padme's wardrobe:

In the final scene, she has a HUGE 'fan' garment behind her head, about twice as large as her head.

In the hanger scenes, she has a dark colored 'track suit' (felt material) with yellow/green stripes up the legs and very tight fitting around the top. She carries a chrome, sleek, slender, curvy, minimalist gun! Looks so cool!

Unnamed source - - Insiders who have seen Portman's hair for the new film have described it as being pretty outrageous. One informant went so far as to say that it will put Leia's in ANH to shame. One of the hairdos, reportedly, resembles the Diva's head/hair/whatever from The Fifth Element. Freaky, eh? [Tinman's note: George Lucas likes to stray from the beaten path, and I personally can't wait for the visual feast of far-out stuff we're going to see in Episode 1!)

Delta Source: SPOILERS! Highlight below to uncover them!

Delta tells us that the queen's name--as she was referred to during the Tunisian shoot--was Padme. Some of the scenes on Tatooine that Padme will be involved in are Anakin's pod race in the Mos Espa Arena and a few scenes with Anakin, Kister and R2-D2 in the backyard of a slave quarters.

Jix: SPOILERS! Highlight below to uncover them!

(Note that the name "Thenna" was either a cover or a mistake. We've since confirmed that it is not her name.)

According to Jix, the queen was called Thenna on the Caserta set. Here's a bit of information Jix was kind enough to relay to us regarding the queen's homeworld and a conflict that arises there. Jix told us this information back before anyone had heard of Darth Maul or Naboo.

Interesting stuff there. The Nimoudians sound just like aliens that attacked Luke, Leia and Han in at Cloud City in an early draft of Empire.

There's been a lot of confusion on Padme Naberrie and Queen Amidala. Are they two different people or the same? Well, from what we understand they are the same. Natalie Portman plays Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala. When she's dressed as the queen, she goes by "Queen Amidala". When she's on the run and hiding, wearing regular clothes, she goes by "Padme Naberrie". Kind of like Clark "Superman" Kent. Doh! That Superman/ Clark Kent thing might have been a spoiler to Superman fans. Please disregard. :)

Many of you have been asking why, if Portman is both Padme Naberrie and Queen Amidala, Padme is listed as the "Queen's Handmaiden" on the action figure. For a clue, go look at Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress". It might give you an idea. You can also look at old drafts of Star Wars for clues. Unfortunately, the site we used to direct you to that used to host the scripts is now offline and I don't know where they plan to pop up next. Anyway, the clues are there.

Image by Harry Knowles

Prequel Watch's True Fan: True Fan tells us that the one of the queen's costumes for Episode I will be similar to Princess Leia's white dress during the medal ceremony at the end of Episode IV, except that it will have a lower collar, and is blue in color with marble accents. Mike Bastarache's image at the top of this page is based on that description. True Fan's description of Liam Neeson's character's costume is remarkably accurate as it is seen in the French Premiere pictures.

Sean Gates had some possible insight into the origin of the name "Padme":

"I read the fan speculation update about Qi Gong (pronounced Chee-Gung) possibly being the linguistic base of "Qui-Gon Jinn" and how the Qi or Chi is a similar concept to the Force. Well, today as I was reading the Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy (by Robert Anton Wilson) I came across a phrase: "Om Mani Padme hum," which immediately caused me to sit upright and start asking incessantly, "what does it MEAN?!?!?" So I did some searching on the internet. It turns out that Om Mani Padme hum is a Buddhist mantra. It translates approximately as "the Jewel is in the Lotus," and is a reference to the Buddha's flower sermon. The Buddha didn't actually speak at the flower sermon, he just held up a Lotus and the guy who understood what he meant became his successor. Anyway, Padme means "Lotus." The Lotus is a holy symbol to Tibetan Buddhists, but I was unable to determine just what it represents, although I got the impression that it had to do with "purity." Nevertheless, I thought this was an interesting tidbit that you might appreciate, if you didn't already know."

Sameer Ketar also sent us some insight into the significance of the lotus in Buddhism.

"I have some possible insight on that lotus stuff. well, it was said that wherever the Buddha walked, a beautiful lotus flower bloomed up beneath his feet. also, in most of his depictions, the Buddha is sitting in a huge lotus flower. therefore, the "jewel in the lotus" refers to the Buddha himself. the flower sermon might have some significance to the jedi. a jedi "coming of age" (or coming of power) ritual perhaps? just something to think about...the oldest jedi holding up the lotus (the holocron), and waiting for one of his students to interpret it, then that student became the next guardian of the holocron, or something like that!"

Will She be a Force-User?: Chris received word a while back that the queen will be a Force-sensitive. She will have power within the Force, according to this source, and will be trained by a Jedi who is serving as her bodyguard. Even if his source on that turns out to be false we believe she will be a Force user. Ben Kenobi told Luke the Force was strong in his family...and Luke's mother is certainly part of his family.

The queen's look in the film was obviously influenced heavily by cultures of the orient.  Many have said Japanese or Chinese and of course that influence is there but those familiar with the Mongolian culture will notice the strong influence from there.  It's also interested to note that in ancient Mongolian society it was customary for wives to be somewhat older than their husbands so that they were wiser and could guide them in worldly matters. Hmm...that sounds like two characters we know?  Probably just coincidence but still pretty neat.