In the last few years, she's helped poor families pay school fees for their children and brought computers to classrooms. With the help of other Americans she's also provided Otuam with its first ambulance, as well as access to clean, running water. Her next priority, she says, is to bring state-of-the-art toilets to Otuam.

And even when she's not in Ghana, her royal duties do not stop; she wakes up at 1am every morning to call Otuam and be informed about what's happening in the community.

"I talk to my regent, I talk to my elders," Bartels says. "If there is something that I want to know, they tell me. If there is something that I want them to do, I tell them."

Last year, King Peggy's real-life fairy tale was documented in a book written by her and author Eleanor Herman. And now she says her amazing life journey from secretary to king will be told in a film, after Hollywood star Will Smith bought the rights to the book.

"Next year, God willing, we are going to have a movie out there," says King Peggy. "Queen Latifah is going to play me and I'm so happy to at least let the whole world know that a secretary can become a king and lead wisely and help the people."