Edith Delgado, now 19, was driving a car that slammed into a sport utility vehicle carrying Prince Tu'ipelehake, 55; his wife, Princess Kaimana Aleamotu'a Tuku'aho, 46; and their driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36, of East Palo Alto.

The Redwood City woman, who faced a maximum sentence of three years behind bars, broke into tears in the packed courtroom when San Mateo County Judge John W. Runde read the sentence.

Delgado, who will receive credit for the year she already spent in county jail as well as for her good behavior as an inmate, will likely spend another four to six months in jail, prosecutors said. She will begin her sentence on Sept. 1.

In addition, she was ordered to pay restitution of an undetermined amount to the victims' families and serve three years of supervised probation.

Prosecutor Aaron Fitzgerald, who had sought a 30-month sentence, said he agreed with the judge's decision.

"The sentence of two years reflects the seriousness of the offense," Fitzgerald said. "In this case, we have the deaths of three perfectly innocent victims."

Defense attorney Randy Moore said he believed the sentence was too harsh.

"I don't think it serves anyone's interest for this 19-year-old girl to spend more time in jail," he said. "My client was convicted of an accident."

In June, a jury convicted Delgado of three misdemeanor counts of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, acquitting her of felony charges that carried a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.

Prosecutors alleged that Delgado was racing another driver on July 5, 2006, when she sideswiped the Ford Explorer on Highway 101 in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. Delgado, who had received her driver's license five months earlier, was not injured in the crash.

The prince and princess had traveled to the San Francisco Bay area to discuss political reforms in the tiny South Pacific nation with members of the region's Tongan community.

Before Delgado was sentenced, two relatives of the royal couple told the judge the family was devastated by their deaths.

"Words cannot express how much of a loss we feel even after a year," said Amelia Tupou Tonga, the princess' cousin. "Still our family suffers and our country suffers. We are a forgiving people, and all we want today is justice."