In the 1988 movie “Coming to America,” comedian Eddie Murphy portrayed a fictional African prince, pampered by unimaginable wealth and surrounded by an entourage.

But some students at Hopewell High School are getting a more real-life glimpse at an African royal’s life: Their math teacher, Bestos Fongoh, is a prince in his native country of Cameroon. And no, there are no sponge baths, no entourages – in fact, these days, there are very few differences between his life and that of their other teachers.

Fongoh was born in 1976 into the royal family of Bamendankwe, a town of about 15,000 in the English-speaking part of Cameroon. Bamendankwe is one of seven kingdoms in the Northwest province of the country. Fongoh grew up in a royal palace and wasn’t exposed to the suffering many of the country’s poverty-stricken people faced, but he was instructed early on by his mother to always give back to the community.

Living in the palace was fun, Fongoh says, but he felt isolated. He didn’t get to spend much time with friends and it was sometimes difficult to have privacy. But he did meet a cross-section of people from his village, as the palace was a place where villagers came every day to ask for advice, air concerns or meet with Fongoh’s father, the king.

From listening to the problems that citizens brought to the palace, he knew he wanted to pursue a path that would allow him to serve others, especially young people. In Bamendankwe, Fongoh focused on health and education. He led seminars for youths on HIV and AIDS and on how to prepare for a future career. He also taught basic computer skills.

Fongoh studied at the University of Buea in Cameroon and considered a career in medicine. But, “my friends in school told me I’d be a good teacher,” he says. Fongoh realized that teaching was a great way to honor his mother’s wish for community service. He had always been naturally gifted at math, and decided to combine teaching with his love of numbers.

Fongoh had also been curious about the world outside Cameroon, so he applied for a teacher exchange in the United States. He said he “was looking for a place where there was diversity and nobody was going to judge me by my color or the way I talk.” A friend had been on a program based in Columbia, S.C., and told Fongoh the climate was good and the people were nice.

In December 2005 he and his wife came to Columbia, where he was supposed to teach high school. But the only opening was in a middle school, so he taught sixth grade in Richland County. This position was the most challenging of his career. “Four teachers had already resigned from this class because the kids were so bad,” he recalls.

He was accustomed to calm, quiet, orderly classrooms where students respect the rules. The class of raucous sixth-graders was a rude awakening.

Fongoh says he handled the class by remembering that the students were just children, and “the best way to deal with children is to get involved with them, not try to command them.” He was there for 1 ½ years. After he left, a student e-mailed him a message thanking him for being there and helping her, he says.

In fall of 2006, he began teaching pre-calculus at a high school in Orangeburg, S.C. In four semesters there, only one student failed his class. Fongoh’s exchange program had come to an end, and he says his wife wanted to move to Charlotte because she’d heard good things about its people and climate. He applied to 45 schools here, and the principal of Hopewell, Mary Louise Jones, was the first to call.

Fongoh started at the school last August. He loves Charlotte’s friendliness, climate and international flavor, he says, along with the quality of Hopewell’s students.

His students are also glad he came to Hopewell. “Mr. Fongoh keeps the class fun, so that it is not as hard to pay attention and stay focused,” says 10th-grader Hunter Conley, who takes Fongoh’s pre-calculus class. Conley said Fongoh is good with students and likes to joke around, “but when it’s time to work he gets serious and really teaches us. The class is difficult, but I always learn new things in there.”

Fongoh says one difference between teaching students at Hopewell and in Cameroon is resources. “Students at Hopewell have everything they need in terms of material goods,” he says.

And high school isn’t free in Cameroon. In some cases, Fongoh says, it’s more expensive than college.

Life in Charlotte is more relaxed than it was at the palace, he says. “Nobody is coming to ask me questions or for advice.”

He has a 17-month-old daughter, Vania, so much of his time at home is now spent with her.

He calls relatives in Cameroon every day, and says his family supports his move and career. Fongoh has three sisters and three brothers; one brother will someday become king. It’s a secret which that will be, however. A tribal council, made up of village elders and headed by his father, will decide the successor when the time comes.

Instead of becoming king, Fongoh intends to pursue a Ph.D. in math education, possibly online or at UNC Charlotte. He says he eventually will go home and set up a technology center to help youths graduating from high school to go to college.

When Fongoh tells his students that he’s a prince, “they ask me why did I come here? They think that I have control over everything,” he says.

Fongoh explains that he’s not like Prince Charles of England. In Fongoh’s country, there are lots of other princes, and he shouldn’t be treated differently than anyone else.

Conley, the 10th grader, says he thinks it’s great that Fongoh is “still willing to teach high school students even though he could be doing anything he wanted.”

It’s clear, though, Bestos Fongoh is doing exactly that.