Autobiography of a Princess represents the return to East Indian themes by the team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory after the unsuccessful Hollywood-based The Wild Party (1973). The basic Merchant/Ivory "props", including landed gentry, old folks taking unnatural interest in the goings-on of young folks, period costumes and reams of upper-class dialogue are here in abundance. The elderly character is James Mason, playing the former tutor of the father of Indian princess Mahur Jaffrey. For nearly an hour, tutor and princess discourse over their experiences in colonial India. Made for television, Autobiography of a Princess may be a yawnfest for non-fans of the Merchant/Ivory output, but the opportunity to see the brilliant Indian actress Mahur Jaffrey in full artistic flower should not be missed.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide