COUNTYWIDE : Costa Mesa High Gets a Royal Visit

When the students at Costa Mesa High School heard that they would be visited by British royalty, many envisioned a snooty couple sweeping onto the campus in a fleet of gleaming horse-drawn carriages, looking down upon and waving politely to the little people.

Although Princess Alexandra of Britain and her husband, Sir Angus Ogilvy, did arrive at the school Monday in a fleet of gleaming Rolls-Royces, the students pronounced them anything but snooty.

“I thought they were going to be all high and stuck-up, but they were nice,” said ninth-grader Mike Curtis, 14.

The royal couple, visiting Orange County as part of the Festival of Britain, ventured to Costa Mesa High after Princess Alexandra, 53, first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, asked for a tour of a typical California high school.

Students and faculty perched along a second-floor railing gazed down as the princess and her entourage arrived shortly after 11 a.m. to cheers ordinarily associated with the arrival of a pop musician or star athlete.

While the princess and her husband took a brief tour of the school, teacher Phyllis McKown and her ninth-grade world history class nervously prepared for a skit in which nine of her 34 students presented an Elizabethan-era “telecast” of the “Renaissance News Network,” focusing on battles with the Spanish Armada.

The princess, with her entourage in tow, was led into Room 163, where McKown introduced her students to the couple and presented the princess with another bouquet of flowers. “Do you enjoy history?” the princess asked the class, which replied “yes” in unison but with an obvious degree of apprehension.

Seated in standard-issue plastic classroom chairs, Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus looked on as “anchorwoman” Tienna Rodriguez, 14, dressed in a bright green blazer, opened the “broadcast” and introduced “correspondent” Michelle Hitchcock, who, in turn, introduced “Queen Elizabeth I.”

The queen, portrayed by Julie Wooten, 14, resplendent in a floor-length white gown and tiara, delivered a soft-spoken but flawless address detailing the fight against the Armada. Her address was rebutted in Spanish by King Philip I of Spain, portrayed by Robert Rodriguez, 14, and translated by Dawn Fries, 14.

McKown later said it was the students’ idea to deliver speeches for the “newscast” in as many foreign languages as possible. After Robert Rodriguez--who brought smiles to the faces of the royal couple after he proclaimed that “it is true that I had fallen in love with Queen Elizabeth, but we’re bitter enemies now”--delivered his address in Spanish, classmate Giancarlo Renella, 14, portraying Pope Alexander, did his bit in Italian. Nancy Duigou, 15, presented France’s perspective in French.

“Congratulations--well done!” Sir Angus told the performers. “Very enjoyable.”

“I was kind of nervous,” said Chad Van Sweden, 14, who interviewed “Pope Alexander” for the mock broadcast. “It was just a different feeling having reporters and royalty in the classroom.”

“They were fabulous,” said Nancy Duigou, who said she was pleased to learn that the princess speaks some French and was able to follow her presentation. “She was really nice, not like I expected.”

The entire school, it seemed, was similarly impressed by the royal couple. At their departure--marked by a one-song recital by the school choir--the princess stopped to shake a few hands and exchange pleasantries with a number of students.

“Omigod, I talked to her!” one girl yelled after the princess stopped to say hello. “I talked to a princess!”