A fight that ended with La Reina de la Fiesta being carried into the lobby of the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, kicking and swinging her royal scepter, caused an early conclusion to the Gran Baile last month.

"It was ugly, frightening, something you don't think you'll see at a royal event," a witness said.

The Sept. 12 incident led the Fiesta Council, the volunteer organization that produces the annual community observance, to dismiss all members of the 2009 Fiesta royalty, regardless of their roles in the incident.

The queen and court did not participate in two events earlier this month, a 400th anniversary celebration of Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and the Oct. 6 visit of Spain's Crown Prince Felipe de Borbón y Grecia and his wife, the Princess of Asturias Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano.

Normally they don't relinquish their public duties until April, when the new Fiesta court is chosen.

Members of the Fiesta Council did not return phone calls seeking comment on the incident or the action taken. The chairwoman of the ball, who was out of town the night of the dance, said she had heard nothing about it.

But a number of spectators have described, in detail, what took place shortly after 11 p.m.

According to their reports, the 2009 queen, Victoria Mora, and last year's la reina, Angelique Armijo, were in an argument with one of the princesses, Christina Chacon. There had been bad blood between Mora and Chacon, they said, throughout the summer.

The queen's parents joined in. Her father, Mike Mora, was a member of Don Diego de Vargas' staff. The Moras were involved in some pushing and shoving, but no one was seriously injured.

Neither of the Moras returned phone calls seeking comment.

Some witnesses said Ernesto Tafoya, the 2009 de Vargas, stepped in to try to calm things down. His daughter reportedly got in the middle of the action and suffered a bruised shoulder.

One letter writer, who said she attended the event and saw the queen fight with one of her princesses, noted, "It is precisely because this type of behavior is overlooked and swept under the rug by the Fiesta Council that they have trouble getting qualified, respectful, decent mature men and women to compete for these roles."

In an e-mail, a relative of one of the princesses wrote, "I feel it is bad practice in that the Fiesta Council did nothing to address this situation."

An observer of the fight, who has attended a lot of events in Santa Fe, said, "I have never heard of a Fiesta dance stopped because of a queen fighting with member of her royal court."

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.