AMERICA’S First Lady arrived in Oxford yesterday in perhaps the most glamorous visit the city has seen in years.

Michelle Obama spent just over an hour at Oxford University, hoping to inspire those from less privileged backgrounds to aim high.

The last serving First Lady to visit the city was Hillary Clinton, in 1994, on a day when rain clouds obscured the famous dreaming spires.

In contrast, Christ Church quad was bathed in sunshine as Mrs Obama’s eight-strong motorcade swept in shortly after 2pm.

She was at the college to inspire students from north London’s Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College – named after England first female doctor – to achieve their potential.

And she called on them to help spread the message.

The college itself was under a full security lockdown, orchestrated by the White House, that included armed patrols, rooftop sentries and a massive police presence in the streets surrounding Christ Church.

Mrs Obama gave her speech in the dining hall, a place that is no stranger to inspirational pep talks – it served as Hogwarts’ great hall in the Harry Potter films – and with a “how ya’ll doin?”, she immediately put the 35 teenagers at ease.

The First Lady originally visited students at EGA in 2009, a girls’ school where 91 per cent of pupils have ethnic minority backgrounds, and 54 per cent are entitled to free school meals.

She said their stories had chimed with her own, adding, “success is not about the background you come from, it is about the confidence you have and the effort you are willing to invest.”

She said: “You have everything you need to succeed at a place like this, you just have to work hard.

“And don’t just think universities have a lot to offer you – you have a lot to offer universities: your talent, passion and life experience.”

Mrs Obama then took questions from the girls, after which thoughts turned to her first meeting with husband Barack.

Asked if she knew he would be President the moment they met, she said she knew he was special.

She added: “Couple that with talent and he’s cute. I always thought he would be useful, but I had know idea he would be President.”

Asked about life as the First Lady, she said: “Yesterday I slept at Buckingham Palace and Friday I’ll return home and go to soccer. It ranges from the mundane to the ‘my God, who could have dreamt this?’.”

Mrs Obama’s visit comes at a time when the university is under scrutiny both for its number of black students and the £9,000 a year tuition fees it will charge from 2012.

Director of undergraduate admissions Mike Nicholson said the university did all it could to encourage people to apply, but could not address educational attainment levels on its own.

He said generous support packages would be available and added: “We don’t want students put off applying because they don’t think they could afford to come.”

The EGA pupils had spent the day at Oxford accompanied by student mentors, among them Clarissa Pabi, a former EGA girl who is now an undergraduate at St Anne’s College.