Halle Berry's victory as her high school's prom queen was tainted because teachers could not believe a black girl had beaten a blonde, blue-eyed princess.

Halle Berry's victory as her high school's prom queen was tainted because teachers could not believe a black girl had beaten a blonde, blue-eyed princess.

The Oscar winner was stunned when she learnt she had been picked as the prom queen at Bedford High School, outside Cleveland, Ohio - but was not as surprised as the school's headmaster.

"Me and this other girl, Vicky Cuckle . got called to the principal's office, and he said: 'Halle, you've won; Vicky, you're first runner-up. But, Halle, we believe you have taken part in stuffing the ballot box'," Berry said.

Her mother was appalled by the allegations. The actress recalls: "My mother came marching up there . She was pissed. They gave an excuse of why they thought I had done this, but really had no proof of anything; it's just they could not believe that the only black girl in the whole school was now going to be their symbol of beauty.

"The principal said, 'Let's flip a coin', so we did, and I won." - Wenn