Posted on 11/03/2005 6:53:35 PM PST by LA Woman3
Students at Cathedral Academy have faced a lot of TV cameras and reporters' notepads this year. After all, the red-brick school was the first to reopen in New Orleans' French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina barreled in.
But Friday will be different. As Joseph Mirabin, 6, put it, they'll get to see "a real prince -- like Prince Charming."
It's Prince Charles' first official international visit since his second marriage -- a mission to underscore trans-Atlantic ties and win public acceptance for his marriage to Camilla, his longtime love and now Duchess of Cornwall.
Those goals haven't been at all apparent in planning sessions for the tightly choreographed appearance, said vice principal Peggy LeBlanc, whose original school, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini School, was destroyed by floods and has combined with Cathedral.
"My impression is it's very important for the prince that this be centered on the children, and that this is a humanitarian act," she said. His visit is a symbol of international caring, she said. "For people who have lost everything, something like this means a lot."
After an airport greeting ceremony, Charles and Camilla will visit the Ninth Ward, one of the hardest hit areas when levees failed after Katrina.
Several students at Cathedral attended St. David's School in the Ninth Ward, school secretary Catherine Hendrickson said. "All you could see above water was the steeple," she said.
The non-uniform uniforms at Cathedral attest to the city's devastation. Its 270 students wear the uniforms of 30 public, private and parochial schools -- Cathedral's, Cabrini's, 27 other schools around the city, and donations from an out-of-state Catholic school.
Joseph, a bright-eyed first-grader, is wearing a red knit shirt bearing Cabrini's insignia Nikki Stone, 8, is in the green plaid jumper of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, and Kimani Dorsey, 9, in tan slacks and a white shirt.
The students' housing is almost as varied. Nikki, whose father is a fire chief, lives in a trailer in front of the government complex in suburban St. Bernard Parish. Kimani and Lorenz Jones, 8, are living in hotels. Janae Brown, 8, is living on the cruise ship Sensation.
Cionne Wilson, 7, in the black-and-white pinafore of Corpus Christi Elementary, is one of the few students living at home. But the storm destroyed Corpus Christi, where her mother was principal.
All have lost beloved belongings. Some have lost pets or whole houses. Most need to talk about the storm daily, said Brian Eller, who taught fourth grade at Cabrini and expects his class will soon be changed to a mixed group of fourth- through eighth-grade students who aren't up to their grade levels.
Part of his preparations included emphasizing "appropriate questions" -- "You don't ask them how much money they make. Don't ask how old he is."
The songs planned for a choir of 50 children are religious, not patriotic. And they will wave both English and American flags.
"At first, I didn't understand about him coming from England," said Nikki.
"Princes always come from England!" said Joseph, with sunny certainty.
Kimani corrected him. "Sometimes they're from England. Sometimes they're from" -- he stopped a moment -- "Mexico."
His sister, Anne, The Princess Royal, once famously commented: "I don't do stunts." And she has stuck to it.
I think Chet enjoys viewing the peasants and dazzling them with his erudite(snicker) opinions.
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