King Charles and Queen Camilla drew crowds to Front Royal, Virginia, during their U.S. visit
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Locals called it a “once in a lifetime” moment as the royal couple rolled through the small town
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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.
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