Charles and Camilla Meet the Capital's Little People

Meanwhile, her husband queried another group of students about their television habits. "There are too many channels to choose from," he said agreeably, nodding his head.

After the classroom visit, the group reconvened in the courtyard, where the prince admired the English oak (Prince Valiant variety, to be specific) he was to ceremonially plant. Then, after some speechifying by Williams and the presentation of gifts, the prince and the duchess worked the rope line as students -- and, near the end of the line, council member Barry -- pressed forward for handshakes. Camilla nodded and stooped, slowly making her way along, stopping to talk to student after student.

"It's very rare for royal people to come to our school," said Denzell Grimes.

Not so rare, though, for the White House, where there was a decidedly ho-hum public attitude to the royal comings and goings. At the White House, Charles and Camilla were joined at lunch by the president and first lady, former first lady Barbara Bush, presidential brother Marvin Bush, and British Ambassador David Manning and his wife, Catherine, among others. Across the street, in Lafayette Square, there was a loud protest taking place, but the royal motorcade caused no stir as it departed for the charter school. There was, however, a guy in a cute bear costume on hand: PETA, the ever-vigilant animal rights group, sent him to call for an end to the use of Canadian bear fur to make hats for the queen's ceremonial guards -- those Beefeater dudes every tourist wants to photograph at Windsor Castle.

"It takes the entire skin of one, sometimes two, bears to make just one guard's headpiece," according to a handout from PETA. Who knew? Jason Huff did -- his bear suit, naturally, was made of faux fur and he carried a poster saying "God Save the Bears."

So, Camilla and Charles, take heart: Even if nobody else in the former colonies shows up for this historic trip, PETA pledges to be there on every stop, offering a grim message that as many as 300 innocent bears a year give their lives for the sake of royal pomp and circumstance.

Not far away, in the square, a woman carried a red poster board declaring "2,000 Is Too Many." It wasn't referring to bears.

To view a photo gallery of Charles and Camilla's visit, go tohttp://www.washingtonpost.com/photo.