I Thought I’d Seen It All Covering the Royals. Then I Saw King Charles in Small-Town Virginia

King Charles and Queen Camilla drew crowds to Front Royal, Virginia, during their U.S. visit

NEED TO KNOW

• Locals called it a “once in a lifetime” moment as the royal couple rolled through the small town

• After years covering the royals, one reporter found the visit felt unexpectedly close to home

I’ve covered the royal family for PEOPLE for more than a decade — from London to Montecito, from palace announcements to private moments — but I never expected to find myself back in my home state of Virginia, standing onMain Street in Front Royal, waiting forKing CharlesandQueen Camillato arrive.

And yet, there I was in the Shenandoah Valley — not far from where I went to school at James Madison University — watching Union Jacks and American flags wave side by side under bright blue skies, helicopters buzzing overhead ahead of the royal couple's arrival and a bluegrass band playing as the crowd gathered.

It felt surreal. And unexpectedly personal. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” someone said behind me. They weren’t wrong.

The small town — where, as one local put it, “everyone kind of knows each other” — had turned out by the thousands to see Charles, 77, and Camilla, 78, make their royal arrival amid theirhistoric U.S. visit, which also saw themmake stops in D.C.andNew York City. Families lined the street, toddlers perched on shoulders, teenagers off from school, retirees in folding chairs. At one point, I overheard an adult reassure a child, “It won’t be too long — the King and Queen are coming soon.”

Even the town’s name carries a royal echo: local lore traces Front Royal to a British command during the Revolutionary War — “Front the Royal Oak!” — later shortened, while another theory suggests it was once a Revolutionary War password, with “Front” answered by “Royal.”

For Regan Jones, 71, who walked about a mile from her home just up the road with her husband Robert, 77, the moment carried real weight. “We’ll never get closer to the King,” Regan told me. “We just wanted to participate in this big event. Glorious occasion.”

Robert shook his head, still taking it in: “It’s amazing… the King picked Front Royal of all places in Virginia to come visit.”

But what struck me most was how honestly they talked about their town.

“It’s history… going back to the Revolution, the Civil War,” Robert said, before Regan added, without hesitation, “The good and the bad. The bad part is…its segregation history. But we’ve made great strides. We’re a small community that’s been pulling together over the years. It’s a good place to live.”

Related:Union Jack Flag Flown Upside Down During King Charles and Queen Camilla's Visit to Arlington Cemetery

What also stayed with me was how many people were still talking about theKing’s speech to Congresson April 28. It's achieved something we don’t often see in America right now — a moment that cut across divisions, drawing standing ovations from both sides of the aisle for its message of peace, faith and understanding — and, for many, the surprise of his wit.

As one watcher told me, “His humor was not on my 2026 bingo card — but he won me over.”

After a reign that has so far been marked by turbulence — fromhis cancer diagnosistoongoing family tensions— this felt like a defining moment for the King: a chance to step onto the global stage and show who he is — personable, reflective, modern in his own way, and, yes, even funny.

That mix of pride and perspective — of looking forward while acknowledging the past — felt like the real story of the day.

A few feet away, Bella Hallebrandt, 28, had come from nearby Stephens City with her husband and their 2-year-old son after spotting the visit on Facebook.

“I had to double check,” she said with a laugh. “I was like, wait, really? It almost feels random and weird… but amazing. Royalty coming through? I’m just kind of mind blown that this is happening at all.”

Her son won’t remember it, she admitted — but one day, “we’ll tell him he saw a King and Queen.”

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Then there was Jude O’Donnell, 18, who showed up with his friends from his high school's debate team — all dressed in suits.

“We just thought, let’s go all in,” he told me. “This is a really huge moment. I’ve never seen royalty before…this is probably the biggest thing that’s happened here.”

Looking around at the crowd, he summed it up simply: “The whole vibe is just very cool…everyone’s come together. It feels very united.”

And then, with a grin, he added what everyone was thinking: “It is kind of funny — you’ve got the King of England, who we fought for independence from, coming back…but in a way, it feels like it’s bringing America and England together a little bit.”

As the motorcade approached — emergency vehicles and official cars rolling through, more Secret Service than you could count — the energy shifted instantly. Cheers erupted. The town’s championship Little League team stood lined up, waiting for their moment to greet the monarch. Children were told they were about to see “a king and queen from a different country.” Phones went up. People craned their necks.

And then — there he was. After years of covering royal tours in major cities and carefully choreographed palace moments, what stood out most here wasn’t the pomp — it was the proximity. The novelty. The disbelief.

At one point, as King Charles moved down the line, he shook hands with children and thanked them for coming — even jokingly acknowledging they had “taken off school” to be there.

As the motorcade passed after the 40-minute visit, no one rushed to leave. Crowds lingered, pressing against barricades, hoping for just one more glimpse.

“I thought it was pretty excellent,” Stephanie Mangino, 53, of Stephens City, Va., told me. “I’m an Anglophile from way back…it was too good to pass up.”

She paused, still taking it in. “I never, ever thought I would see the King of England in a gazebo in Front Royal, Virginia.”

Neither did I.

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This was the monarchy, improbably and unmistakably, meeting small-town America.

Standing there in the Shenandoah Valley — where I once went to school at James Madison University — it wasn’t lost on me that even our mascot, the Duke Dog, wears a crown.

And for all the distance that usually surrounds the royal family, this moment felt surprisingly close.

Not history books. Not headlines. Just a small town, a sunny day — and a King, right in front of us.

Read the original article onPeople

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 04, 2026

I Thought I’d Seen It All Covering the Royals. Then I Saw King Charles in Small-Town Virginia

King Charles and Queen Camilla drew crowds to Front Royal, Virginia, during their U.S. visit NEED TO KNOW Locals c...

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Fewer AAPI adults report hate incidents but racism concerns linger, new poll shows

Fewer Asian American and Pacific Islander adults are reporting overt anti-Asian attacks than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, anew AP-NORC/AAPI Data pollfinds, but many still worry about racial discrimination.

A new poll out Monday, asAAPI Heritage Monthbegins, fromAAPI Dataand TheAssociated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Researchfinds that about one-quarter of AAPI adults have personally experienced a hate crime or incident in the past year, such as verbal harassment or physical assault. That's consistent with a survey conducted last summer, but down from anOctober 2023 pollwhere 36% said they were victims of an act of abuse tied to their race or ethnicity over the prior year.

PreliminaryFBI data also reflects a declineas the pandemic receded into the background. Based on information submitted by law enforcement agencies, anti-Asian hate crimes and bias crimes overall fell between 2024 and 2025.

However, about 3 in 10 AAPI adults in the new survey think it’s “extremely" or "very” likely that they’ll be a victim of discrimination based on their race or ethnicity in the next five years.

“The key is there's been a decline but a stabilization. So, it hasn't declined since last year, ” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director ofAAPI Data. “Both hate crimes and hate incidents are still an issue in our community.”

Racial discrimination and rhetoric amplified in anti-immigrant climate

The poll finds that fewer AAPI adults report experiencing verbal assaults compared to the survey from two years ago.

About 1 in 10 say they have been called a racial or ethnic slur in the past 12 months, down from roughly 2 in 10 in October 2023. Around 15% say they have been verbally harassed or abused by another person in the past year because of their race or ethnicity, down from 23% in 2023.

Advocates report that the tone of the rhetoric has shifted away from COVID-19-related tropes toward anti-immigrant sentiments.

“We're seeing things like ‘Go back to China’ still. But, it's more like ‘ICE is going to deport you,'” said Stephanie Chan, data and research director at Stop AAPI Hate. “The rhetoric that’s being used to justify very harsh and aggressive immigration enforcement, all of this is also feeding into anti-AAPI hate persisting.”

Being made to feel like a foreigner is something Ambar Capoor, 52 and India-born, has encountered even in his diverse Los Angeles neighborhood. Last year, while waiting in line at a restaurant, a white man pushed him unprovoked to get to the front.

Capoor said the man told him: “You don’t belong here. You should go back to your country."

Capoor, who is a naturalized citizen and has lived in the U.S. for 26 years, tries to shrug off these racist interactions.

“None of this stuff normally bothers me,” he said. “If somebody starts an altercation, that I’ll walk away from.”

But Capoor, a Democrat, thinks the divisive political climate has emboldened people to openly say racist things.

Nosheen Hamid, 36 and a stay-at-home mother with a toddler, has lived in Salt Lake City since 2009. In her native Pakistan, her family was considered a minority because of their Catholic faith. In her community in Utah, which is mostly white, she says she gets racially profiled, too.

A couple of months ago, a door-to-door salesman approached her home and seemed surprised she lived there.

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“He was like, ‘Are you renting here?’ He asked me a few times and it got to me for just a second,” Hamid said. “People didn't expect me to be in the space that I was, work-wise, school-wise.”

Dealing with discrimination and economic stress

Withinflation and higher gas pricesas the Iran war continues, AAPI adults are much more preoccupied with economic concerns than discrimination. Around 4 in 10 say personal finances are a “major source" of stress. And about 2 in 10 say the same thing about health concerns and relationships with family or friends. In contrast, only about 1 in 10 say discrimination is currently a major source of stress in their lives. Around half don't see discrimination as a source of stress at all.

John Magner, 58, is half white and also of Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry. He says he actually faces more discrimination from Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders around his home of West Jordan, Utah, who don't believe he is part Hawaiian. The state is home to around 60,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, according to U.S. census data.

Last year, a Pacific Islander customer at the hardware store where Magner works called him "cracker and a little wannabe Pacific Islander.”

But he doesn't dwell on those interactions. He is more focused on juggling family expenses, working and getting a master’s degree in counseling.

“I work full-time but we’re struggling,” Magner said. “Inflation and then also some family stuff that's gone on, having to pay medical bills. It's just bills.”

Ramakrishnan, from AAPI Data, also considers whether there is less scapegoating of immigrants of color because people understand that it has no bearing on the current economy.

“The likely reasons for those economic struggles have nothing to do with race or immigration,” he said. “They have to do with other factors, like tariffs, war on foreign policy, AI data centers. Those are all the things that people see that are driving up costs.”

Rise in hate incidents within some Asian groups

Hate crimes and incidents are often underreported, and experts note that some groups under the AAPI umbrella may be experiencing incidents at a higher rate than others.

"If you look at it in the longer term, (hate incidents) are still really high compared to what it was like pre-pandemic, Chan said, referring to the FBI data.

There has recently been a rise in incidents among South Asians, according to FBI data and Stop AAPI Hate. The largest spikes tend to occur “in moments of South Asian visibility,” such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election, Chan said.

Between the current political climate and being Indian, Capoor has been carrying his U.S. passport card on a lanyard for the past six months.

“After seeing all the reports of actual white folk getting arrested and thrown into camps and taking them like three days to get out of it,” Capoor said. “I don’t have friends in high places. I don’t have the correct skin color.”

The poll of 1,228 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted March 23-30, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

This poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, which are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation.

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 04, 2026

Fewer AAPI adults report hate incidents but racism concerns linger, new poll shows

Fewer Asian American and Pacific Islander adults are reporting overt anti-Asian attacks than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic...

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Trump Suggests His Choreography Helped the 'Gay National Anthem' Chart at No. 1

Donald Trump suggested that he helped the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." top the charts during his 2024 campaign

NEED TO KNOW

• "Y.M.C.A.," which the president called the “gay national anthem,” has been a staple at his rallies and events for years

• Donald said wife Melania Trump "hates" how he dances to the disco tune

Donald Trumpsaid his dance moves to the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." — which he described as the “gay national anthem” — brought the song to the top of the music charts.

Addressing a crowd at The Villages retirement community in Floridaon Friday, May 1, the president, 79, suggested that he is to thank for the 2024 chart resurgence of the 1970s tune, which became an unlikely anthem for Donald during his campaign.

Donald also told the crowd that wifeMelania Trumpisn't a fan of his reaction to the song. “She hateswhen I danceto what is sometimes referred to as the gay national anthem,” he said. “She hates it."

"Y.M.C.A.” topped the Billboard sales charts in late 2024, decades after it first debuted.

“The song 'Y.M.C.A.' spends a fifth week at No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales, the most for any song by a group in 2024,” Billboard said in anX postat the time.

“The song originally reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 1979," the music chart company added.

Donald recounted the disco classic’s chart resurgence during his 2024 presidential campaign this week, but he falsely inflated the statistics, stating that it "went to No. 1 for months."

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"We love that song," he said. “But [Melania] goes, ‘Darling, please.’ You know, she's a very elegant woman. She goes, ‘Darling, please don't dance. It's not presidential.’ I said, ‘It may not be presidential, but I'm leading by 20 points in the polls or something.’ ”

The president later broke out his signature dance moves — a double fist pump and hip shake — as "Y.M.C.A.” played at the end of his address at the Florida retirement community. He also added in a faux golf swing.

"Y.M.C.A.” first became tied to Donald during his 2020 reelection campaign, during which it often soundtracked events as he danced. It even played duringthe final moments of his presidencyin January 2021, as he and Melania, 56 boarded Air Force One.

When he ran for president again in 2024, Donald concluded over 110 rallies with the "Y.M.C.A.,” perABC News. After he won the election, he alsoenlisted the help of the Village People at his inauguration events.

Donald has previously referred to the song as the “gay national anthem” during various other occasions in the past.

During an appearance on theNelk Boys'Full Sendpodcastin March, the president said, "You know what gets them rocking [at Mar-a-Lago]? 'Y.M.C.A.’Did you ever hear that? They call it the gay national anthem," Donald said.

He added that the song "gets people up, and it gets them moving."

Read the original article onPeople

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

May 03, 2026

Trump Suggests His Choreography Helped the 'Gay National Anthem' Chart at No. 1

Donald Trump suggested that he helped the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." top the charts during his 2024 campaign NEED ...

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