sweet trip ethnicity

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Record hospital, an interview with sweet trip: origins and the return.

// Image courtesy of R__ob Uytingco.

Sweet Trip, currently consisting of Roberto Burgos and Valerie Cooper, is a dream-pop/shoegaze/electronica group formed in 1997, San Francisco. They are most notably known for their glitchy electronica album, Velocity:Design:Comfort , and their dream-pop album You Will Never Know Why . With these projects and few earlier works under their belt, Sweet Trip gained an early cult following that has been growing exponentially, even with their latest full release dating back to 2009 ( You Will Never Know Why ).

In 2021, Sweet Trip is making a long-awaited return after a 12-year hiatus with new singles and an album, A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals . The new music, along with reissues of previous albums, are available for purchase over at Darla Records !

Along with the great pleasure of allowing WHRB to chat with them, Sweet Trip provided a bountiful amount of information regarding the evolution that the group has undergone since its creation in 1995. More specifically, this interview also focuses on the recent end of Sweet Trip's 12-year hiatus and how it has affected the duo. Watch the interview in its entirety with time-stamped questions below, and read on to learn more about Sweet Trip’s story.

Like many musical artists, Sweet Trip was eagerly looking forward to live performances in 2020, especially after their return performance in January of that year. Luckily, the shift in lifestyle presented by the COVID-19 pandemic has not been a negative one for Sweet Trip in regards to writing, recording, and production. In fact, as Roby explains, “It feels more comfortable, it’s also more intimate and it caters very well to our personalities. We’re both introverts, we’re very self-conscious of what we do and what we don't do, it’s nice to be able to just record music and make music together by just ourselves because there are no prying eyes, there’s no judgment.” With so many barriers cut down, allowing for increased personal collaborative work, the new record appears to be very reflective of this insight and the duo as a whole. After all, it’s Roby’s favorite work of theirs yet!

In Sweet Trip’s earlier days, the lineup consisted of Roby, Valerie, and Viet Le. It was Valerie who played a leading role in music discovery. Roby said, “Valerie was always very instrumental in showing me and Viet newer bands that we were not exposed to. Valerie’s record collection, music, and knowledge of all this cool underground stuff was a huge influence on us.” As for Viet, Roby describes his role in the band as a “spiritual leader” who guided the group’s path and was vocal in expressing what worked and what did not work for them. Naturally, Viet was the businessman in the trio, “He’d whip us into shape as far as being more professional when we play, he was our main contact with bookings and networking,” Valy explained. So it seems that while Roby and Valerie were being self-proclaimed introverts, Viet was the “confident and articulate” extrovert that upscaled the band’s presence, eventually landing them a record deal.

For Valerie, it was her parents who introduced her to various genres of music, including bossa nova. When she started playing classical guitar, she seemed to have taken influence from her parents. However, the shoegaze genre later became a larger influence of her own that eventually brought her to buy an electric guitar. And of course, what’s shoegaze without guitar pedals? This marked the beginning of Valerie’s pedal collection as well as her love for shoegaze. Interestingly enough, it was not My Bloody Valentine, one of the most popular shoegaze bands, that influenced her to explore the sound. Instead, it was a much more underground act titled MOOSE and elements of post-punk music that rubbed off on her. For Roby, shoegaze influences were introduced to him in high school. He explained, “, There was this other classmate that had a class right before me in the same room and also at the same desk. She sat in it during the period before mine. She was also someone that I was curious about because she looked really goth and cool. I found out that she was carving the name of all these bands on the desk, so she had like Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, and a bunch of other stuff. From those bands, I knew who My Bloody Valentine was, so I immediately thought - ‘okay all of these other bands must be like My Bloody Valentine’.” Through this interesting encounter driven by curiosity, Roby discovered Slowdive and eventually bought a CD at Tower Records after school.

Beyond shoegaze, Sweet Trip’s sound is also based around the duos’ catholic background. Roby elaborates, “We were both raised catholic so we have a really strong catholic background so we know like mass hymns and things like that. The construct of a mass hymn sort of bleeds into some of the music that we do. I was actually remembering a conversation that we were having a couple of days ago because I was watching a documentary on youtube about Alice in Chains. While I was watching it I was always remembering an article about Alice in Chains and how the way that the two singers worked their melodies was really based on hymns and pentatonic scales and sort of like a modulation of harmonies. I remember being a kid and reading that interview and being like ‘Oh wow, that’s really cool!’ I do know catholic hymns, I kind of feel like I know how they work. So that has been an influence in the music in one way or another.”

In some respects, A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals , appears to be a culmination of all previous works, but, “it also has its own voice,” as Roby notes. With the new record out now, fans of Sweet Trip can find further comfort in knowing that both Roby and Valerie hope to continue making music together. Moreover, they hope to remain a duo act in most recording aspects due to their intimateness and bond. As for live shows, the pair is very welcoming of the possible company of other musicians. In the meantime, you can visit Sweet Trip’s Linktree for more listening and/or purchasing content.

// Gilberto Sepulveda Rabago ‘24 is a staff writer for Record Hospital.

• Retrospective Reviews , Reviews , Song Reviews

A Sweet Trip of Sweet Trip: A Guide Through the Cult Favorite Band’s Best Songs

• By: Joe Hoeffner
• June 2, 2021

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Engaging with the music of Sweet Trip is a very personal thing. That’s true for all music–the thesis of this very blog is that the listener forms their own story when listening to a song based on their own experiences–but it’s especially true with Sweet Trip. A Sweet Trip song is never just happy or sad: even their most upbeat moments have a wistful undercurrent, and even their most melancholy songs have a certain sense of wry serenity. This ambiguity extends to their albums:  Velocity : Design : Comfort  celebrates the possibilities of the future while hinting towards a deeper alienation, while  You Will Never Know Why  contains devastating ballads and peppy Stereolab-esque pop. Different people with different imaginations will hear the same music and come away with different conclusions.

As such, my ten favorite Sweet Trip songs will look very different from someone else’s. I don’t mean to position myself as an authority–Roby Burgos himself is reluctant to declare himself an authority on his own music, not wanting to override what fans might think–but since they released a new album and I had the immense privilege of interviewing Burgos , I want to share ten songs that I think are essential to understanding the unique beauty of this band. As ranking these songs would be like choosing a favorite puppy from a litter, they’ll be listed in chronological order.

“Fish” (from  Halica: Bliss Out v.11 ):  It’s not quite accurate to say that Sweet Trip arrived fully formed. Their debut album,  Halica , had elements of both ambient techno and shoegaze, but they didn’t always synthesize the two as neatly as they would in the future. Still, they had blissful soundscapes down pat, and the album’s opening track, “Fish,” still stands among their best. Clouds of synth and guitar drift across playful, clattering drums, while Valerie Cooper’s voice lilts and echoes like a mysterious spirit singing as she bathes in the depths of a cave. Even as it gets noisier towards the end, “Fish” still feels like a dream, a burst of optimism and possibility.

“Dsco” (from  Velocity : Design: Comfort ):  Considered by many Sweet Trip fans to be their best work (it’s ranked the highest on Rateyourmusic, the music nerd haven where I cut my teeth writing amateur reviews),  Velocity : Design : Comfort was where Sweet Trip truly came into their own. On  Halica , the electronic and rock elements were starting a tentative courtship; here, they’re happily married, and the result brims with imagination and joy. “Dsco” is  VDC  at its most optimistic, with vibrant pop hooks and crunchy rock candy guitars suggesting a glorious futuristic playground: it sounds like a utopian soda commercial in the best possible way. But while the lyrics invite us to “spread the towels and bring out the lotion” and “synchronize your time in motion,” the pleasure is tempered by the need to escape from something: “run away to the sun, to the comfort.”

“Velocity” (from  Velocity: Design: Comfort ):  Sweet Trip’s brilliance comes in part from their musical versatility. They’ve always delighted in genre fusion, but you get the sense that they could have been a pure dream pop band or a pure ambient techno outfit and been just as excellent either way. Case in point: “Velocity,” a straight-ahead IDM suite that stands tall alongside the Autechres and Venetian Snares of the world. While some IDM gets too caught up in its own cleverness, “Velocity” is endlessly evocative: its looping synth haze and sputtering drum crunches summons a world of blue holograms and jagged chrome skylines. Everything about it is pure cool, down to a distorted lounge-y piano put in the mix towards the end, but Cooper’s periodic vocals hint at a desperation and a loneliness behind all this opportunity.

“Chocolate Matter” (from  Velocity : Design: Comfort ): There’s something great about a band that knows exactly what its listeners want. Take “Chocolate Matter,” which comes towards the end of  VDC  and provides a dizzying rush of catharsis. It starts out as a catchy, lilting shoegaze song, not far off from You Made Me Realise -era My Bloody Valentine. Then, an absolutely thunderous guitar riff that sweeps in out of nowhere, sticking around just long enough to get you addicted before disappearing for a buzzing synth solo and another verse. “This is all great, of course,” you catch yourself thinking, “but I really hope that huge guitar riff comes back.” And then it does! And it repeats over and over again until the end of the song, growing louder and more ecstatic until it feels like your headphones might break! And it’s awesome!

“Acting” (from  You Will Never Know Why ): Musically,  You Will Never Know Why  is a lovely moonlit shimmer of an album, forgoing the noisier shoegaze and IDM parts of Sweet Trip’s sound for pure dream pop bliss. Lyrically, however, it gets dark, going into thorny, personal territory. “Acting,” an early highlight, gets a lot of mileage out of that juxtaposition. It’s a long, sprawling song, with a psychedelic outro left over from the  VDC  sessions, and the rich sounds make the lyrics dig their claws in deeper. “Don’t speak of golden dreams,” Burgos sings over a fast-paced, jazz-inflected section. “You once had a chance to make things right.” The “acting” described in the title refers to “acting on regrets,” but when Burgos coos “so sad, so sad, so hopeless,” the cruel joke of the title’s second meaning comes in. It’s the most luscious world’s-smallest-violin ever recorded.

“Milk” (from  You Will Never Know Why ): While “Acting” was acidic and bitter, “Milk” is just devastatingly sad. With its jangly acoustic guitar and yawning pedal steel, “Milk” sounds a little like Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” but while that song is an expression of romantic intimacy, “Milk” is about the loneliness of drifting apart. According to Burgos, “Milk” is about an insomniac watching their lover sleep, jealous of their peaceful rest. But in the song’s bittersweet tone, it’s clear that the divide is deeper and more complicated than that. “You will drift away/and I won’t mind,” Cooper sighs, and she means it. “Don’t you drift away,” she pleads afterwards, and she means that, too.

“Your World Is Eternally Complete” (from  You Will Never Know Why ): One of the album’s most upbeat offerings, “Eternally Complete” has plenty of darkness in its lyrics, but this time the darkness is being pierced by the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a fast-paced pep talk of a song, with Cooper’s sweet, bell-like voice encouraging you to “carry yourself through the frozen desert” and “empty your thoughts into the well of pressure.” It’s a lot to ask, but it’s a testament to Sweet Trip’s empathy that it feels possible: it really does feel like they’re in your corner, and if they think you can carry yourself through the frozen desert, then, hey, why not give it a shot?

“Things to Ponder While Falling” (from  You Will Never Know Why Outtakes ): When “Things to Ponder While Falling” was posted to Soundcloud in 2015, the description said that it was “probably the last Sweet Trip song ever.” Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case, but if it really was the last we’d hear of them it would have been a wonderful coda. The first half of “Things to Ponder While Falling” is a gentle, almost halting lullaby, with Burgos and Cooper singing from the point of view of an outcast (or just an agoraphobe) hiding in their home from the “wounds of coyness and shame.” It’s not a happy song, but there’s a sense of peaceful resignation: if you’re falling, you may as well close your eyes and drift off before you hit the ground. Then, right when you think there’s nowhere else to go, a surge of guitar kicks in, and you get your second wind along with the band.

“Chapters” (from  A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals ):  When any band returns after twelve years, it’s natural to wonder what might have changed in their sound and what new approach they might take. In the case of Sweet Trip, they didn’t radically alter their sound for  A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals , but they did take everything they had done over their discography and put it all together into one lush, swooning package. Everyone who likes Sweet Trip will find something to like on this album, and “Chapters” may end up one of the best-liked songs of all: starting with a glitchy acoustic strum that recalls the warped warmth of Fennesz’ Endless Summer , it becomes a psychedelic swirl of guitar, synth, and voice, achingly tender and romantic. “Hand in hand, electrified/I will love you,” Burgos and Cooper promise, and the sentiment is earned.

“Snow Purple Treasures” (from A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals ): There’s nothing tiny about  A Tiny House . Although it’s not the longest album Sweet Trip’s ever made ( VDC  beats it by about four minutes), it’s definitely the most ambitious, aiming for transcendent romantic bliss at every turn. In the wrong hands, it could be exhausting, but with songs like “Snow Purple Treasures,” who could complain? Not unlike “Chapters,” it opens with a sparse acoustic strum and delicate vocals before expanding into the stratosphere, but there’s always something twilit and elegant to its sound. In short, it sounds like its title (the best Cocteau Twins song title Cocteau Twins never came up with.)

“Polar Equals” (from A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals ): If you wanted to narrow Sweet Trip’s entire discography down to one song, it might be “Polar Equals.” Sure, it lacks the gorgeous vocals that are essential to the band’s excellence, but it contains just about everything else: dreamy peals of guitar, brilliant blossoms of psychedelia, even a return to the blippy IDM of VDC. And to finish it all off, there’s a beautiful outro that shimmers and glimmers and darkens like black butterfly wings. It’s a perfect reminder of what Sweet Trip is capable of, and it’s when it finally sunk in that one of my favorite bands was back.

Joe Hoeffner

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The Sweet East is an odyssey through America's extreme right, left and everything in-between

There's misdirection, and then there are The Sweet East's opening scenes: grainy, intimate, near-vérité home footage of a group of South Carolinian high schoolers running amok on a trip to Washington DC.

A big bad world awaits (emphasis on bad) of Pizzagate conspiracists, white supremacists, Antifa-esque "artivists", asinine New York filmmakers and militant Muslims with a love of trance music in this twisted, provocatively off-colour road movie.

But first, blank-faced teen Lillian (Talia Ryder, of Never Rarely Sometimes Always ) is bored and desperate to stand out. While everyone else on the trip wears matching yellow T-shirts, she's in oversized Aerosmith merch and barely glances up from her phone when people talk to her, let alone to take in landmarks. At a karaoke-pizza bar, her disdain reaches a peak: She hides in the bathroom to vape before singing a twee song about a cat, while staring at the audience through the mirror.

This familiar indie flick, the gentle coming-of-age about the misanthropic teenager, is cut short as an armed conspiracist raids the pizza place, demanding to see the basement where elites abuse children.

Lillian escapes quickly with help from Caleb (Earl Cave), a trust-fund revolutionary in a studded jacket who leads her through the secret basement, a labyrinth of dark halls littered with tricycles, dolls and other kids' toys. "Huh, it seems so much bigger than when I was a kid," he says with absent-minded curiosity, rather than a voice weighed down by trauma. And The Sweet East's "odd-yssey" has begun.

The film is written by critic Nick Pinkerton and marks the directorial debut of Sean Price Williams, a celebrated cinematographer who has helped shape the look of American independent film since the mid-00s, working with the Safdie brothers, Alex Ross Perry and more left-of-field filmmakers.

The Sweet East could be considered the indie counterpoint to Alex Garland's recent blockbuster Civil War  — also a road movie through a United States torn apart (albeit far more literally). It's a dream-like, occasionally magical carnival ride through the country's conspiratorial right and left, as Lillian follows whoever expresses interest in her.

Much like Garland's controversial film, Williams's debut defies immediate political interpretation. Like its protagonist, The Sweet East is wryly mocking but attracted to the figures Lillian meets, each sinister and deranged in their own way.

The film could be seen as sympathetic to some of the repulsive views it portrays — particularly those of Lawrence (Simon Rex; Red Rocket ), a clean-cut, charming American romantics professor she encounters at a white supremacist meet-up. He hides his beliefs of white "racial consciousness" at work, noting it'd be a different story if he was attending transgender communist meet-ups.

Lawrence uses much more offensive language to make his point, of course, as do many characters. Lillian often drops a slur for intellectually disabled people to describe anything she doesn't like — a quirk beholden to New York's Dimes Square, the micro-neighbourhood where Williams runs in a loosely defined, much-analysed grouping of contrarian artists and creatives.

The Sweet East is eager to provoke. Lawrence's racism hides its inherent violence in his intellectual airs and timid presence, best represented by the twee quilt cover in his spare room, adorned with cottagecore baby blue swastikas. As Lillian moves in with him, claiming she's escaping an abusive ex, he keeps his distance and dresses her in coquette dresses and bows while he pontificates endlessly about Edgar Allan Poe and America's "degraded culture", which includes reality TV and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Despite his reprehensible views, he is perhaps Lillian's sweetest encounter, with Rex's charisma rendering Lawrence's loneliness as something to be pitied.

It's an intentionally messy film, both ideologically and visually. Williams's trademark graininess is combined, in scenes of chaos, with juddering unsteady shots, out of focus as if narrative and meaning are struggling to keep up with Lillian's through-the-looking-glass adventure.

Settings, like Caleb's commune, are filled with an overwhelming amount of detail — artworks, fascinating mohawked figures — that Williams's camera barely captures, suggesting we're only scratching the surface. That's not to suggest it's visually ugly: The Sweet East is bright and rich, shot on 16mm film and boldly mixing film references from the 1910s and 70s, despite Lillian's distinctly 2024 encounters.

The soundtrack recalls the foreboding dark, despondent synths of porn composer Patrick Cowley or Greek composer Vangelis. Meanwhile, the film is split up by interstitials echoing those seen in D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, the influential 1915 silent film that portrays the Ku Klux Klan as the heroes of America's nationhood.

The Sweet East appears to be creating its own patchwork quilt of modern America — one that is quietly empathetic for the economic and cultural circumstances that lead people to bizarre, hateful lives.

Of the film's many sections, its midway point is the most electric, where Lillian meets two frenetic filmmakers on the streets of New York, played with great relish by Ayo Edebiri ( The Bear ; Bottoms) and Zola screenwriter Jeremy O. Harris.

The two cast her in their Ivory Merchant-inspired period drama, opposite a heart-throb of the moment (Jacob Elordi, in a small but memorable role). Here, Lillian thrives, becoming an overnight "it girl", quickly adapting to a world of tabloid attention, free designer clothing and acid-tongued flirtations.

These are some of The Sweet East's funniest scenes, a pastiche of drug-fuelled pretension that points out art isn't as revolutionary or important as those creating it believe. By effectively undercutting their own life's work, Pinkerton and Williams establish that The Sweet East isn't above the America it mocks, but merely another attempt to make sense of chaos.

At the film's end, text pops up offering the final message: "Everything will happen." The Sweet East offers no thesis on what everything means but, when put like that, how could it?

Instead, this movie is exhilaratingly bizarre and daring, avoiding moral messaging to instead try to capture our increasingly incomprehensible world.

The Sweet East is in cinemas now.

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This Short And Sweet Trail Is One Of California's Prettiest Coastal Walks

S an Diego is for the outdoor or wilderness enthusiast. It is the perfect place to start the day with fresh air and sunlight on a morning stroll or cap the evening with a vigorous sweat sesh. Rugged sandstone cliffs, panoramic ocean views, and a vibrant plethora of native flora provide a picturesque backdrop for coastal walks paralleling the Pacific Ocean. With 139 hiking trails across San Diego, recorded on  AllTrails , locals have the best of this beach city's pristine wilderness at their fingertips. 

While it may have garnered an impressive reputation for housing some of  California's prettiest beaches off tourists' radar , this West Coast city has an equally impressive hiking scene. There's a trail to satisfy every wilderness junkie, whether it's San Diego's most  popular beachside trails  like Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve or Annie's Canyon Trail. Or, perhaps, the winding networks that snake through the canyons of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Wedged atop the cliffs overlooking the beautiful community of La Jolla, the famous Black's Beach, and the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean, is a hidden gem that offers peace and seclusion from the city's urban dwelling spaces. The  Scripps Coastal Meander Trail  may not be the place to train for your next half marathon, but it offers a short strip of paradise instead. Stretching just half a mile near the Scripps Coastal Reserve, it's the perfect place for a picnic and sunset viewing, a relaxed evening stroll, or a fun photo shoot with an enviable backdrop.

Read more: 15 Scenic Beginner Hiking Trails In America's National Parks

Get Lost In The Scenic Beauty Of The Scripps Coastal Meander

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography inaugurated the Scripps Coastal Meander Trail. While it may not be hailed like San Diego's most iconic loop trails, it is more of a local's spot than a well-known tourist footway. Situated in the captivating community of La Jolla, hikers can find the starting point of the Scripps Coastal Meander on Biological Grade Street, located on the Scripps Institute for Oceanography's campus.

The Scripps Coastal Meander Trail features a boardwalk, manicured pathways, and a coastal terrace with a bench overlooking the vista. This small yet captivating stretch was integrated as part of the larger  California Coastal Trail . Spanning over 1,230 miles from Oregon to Mexico, the California Coastal Trail was a project designed to foster a sense of connectedness and accessibility between humans and the sacred landscape that characterizes the coastline. With 70% of the trail completed, an  interactive mapping system  allows hikers to see the most up-to-date record of trail sections.

Perched on the upper portion of this bluff is the knoll, supporting the trail that skirts the sandy mesa atop these coastal cliffs. The western tip of the knoll offers views of powerful waves crashing onto Black's Beach, the Scripps Pier, and the charming village of downtown La Jolla. Informational graphics and signage provide visitors with insight into the history and heritage of the Scripps Coastal Reserve and the native wildlife that call this habitat home. 

Explore The Picturesque Beach Town Of La Jolla

This sweet and simple nature trail leaves hikers plenty of time to explore the surrounding area of La Jolla. Located less than five minutes from La Jolla Shores Beach, the Birch Aquarium, and downtown La Jolla, make it a day trip and explore all this laid-back beach town has to offer. Downtown La Jolla is a treasure chest of local gems, from upscale art galleries and boutique shops to artisan coffee roasters and cozy cafés. 

Stroll along the coastal boardwalk perched above the idyllic La Jolla Cove and gaze out at the seals regularly seen soaking up the sunlight. Less than half a mile away, explore the Cave Store (La Jolla's  historic sea cave ) or peruse the shelves of  Warwick's , the country's oldest operating family-owned bookstore. For a pre- or post-hike caffeine boost, stop by  Java Earth Coffee  to sample one of their specialty brews. Should you need a lunchtime recommendation, Puesto is known for its heavenly tacos, which have even been recognized with a Michelin Plate Honor.  

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Prince William Takes Home Sweet Souvenir for Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis from Overnight Work Trip

The Prince of Wales and his family have a personal tie to the Isles of Scilly

Janine Henni is a Royals Staff Writer for PEOPLE Digital, covering modern monarchies and the world's most famous families. Like Queen Elizabeth, she loves horses and a great tiara moment.

Samir Hussein/WireImage

Like many doting parents, Prince William brought home something special for his kids from a work trip.

On May 10, the Prince of Wales, 41, popped into the On the Quay cafe during his visit to St. Mary's Harbor on the Isles of Scilly, where he eagerly eyed the pastries and bought five — which would be the ideal number for his family. Prince William and Kate Middleton are parents to Prince George , 10, Princess Charlotte , 8, and Prince Louis , 5, and the Daily Mail reported that the royal dad suggested that he was taking home the Cornish pasties for his family.

"What's selling quickest this morning?" William asked staff at the counter before he made the purchase. Informed that the Cornish pasties, a beef and vegetable-filled savory pastry, were a hot seller, he replied, "They smell delicious. Makes your mouth water."

In the same exchange, the Prince of Wales talked about the sunny weather and revealed that he went for a swim.

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"I was saying to the others, I can't believe the islands today when you've got weather like this, it's just beautiful. I got in the sea yesterday which was good — I wore a wetsuit," he said, the Daily Mail reported. William is known to sneak in exercise during work trips, revealing that he secretly went for a run in Central Park before the Earthshot Prize Summit in New York City in September 2023.

Prince William's children were top of mind elsewhere during his visit to the Isles of Scilly, which was highlighted by time at St. Mary’s Harbor to meet locals and business owners before the summer season and a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital. 

While briefly speaking with well-wishers at the harbor, which serves as the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly, William said he wished he could stay there longer but had to get home for his family.

"My family are very upset I'm here without them," he laughed, the Mail reported. "The children will kill me if I don't go home later."

The islands off the Cornish coast are a special place for Prince William and his family, as the Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Kate, 42, are known to vacation there during the summer months with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. William has long visited the islands off the southwest tip of England and vacationed there as a boy with Princess Diana , King Charles and Prince Harry .

Prince William's two-day visit to the southwest of England began in Newquay on May 9, where he visited the site of the Duchy of Cornwall’s innovative housing project aimed at addressing homelessness, a key issue of his royal platform.

The two days away marked his first overnight trip since Princess Kate announced her cancer diagnosis on March 22, prompting her husband to postpone public-facing duties for a few weeks to be there for her and their children during George, Charlotte and Louis' half-term break from school. 

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The Princess of Wales remains out of the public eye while receiving treatment, but a close source tells PEOPLE there’s a palpable sense of " positive vibes " and an "optimistic mood."

On May 10, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived in Nigeria for their first official international tour since stepping back from their royal roles in 2020.

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Pregnant Lea Michele reveals sex of second baby in sweet Mother’s Day post

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She’s filled with glee!

Lea Michele took to social media Sunday to mark Mother’s Day by revealing the sex of her and husband Zandy Reich’s second child.

“The most beautiful Mother’s Day today, holding my son who made me a mama…and carrying my daughter. 💕💐,” the “Glee” alum, 37, wrote in an Instagram post .

The heartwarming snap featured the “Funny Girl” star looking down at her blossoming baby bump which can be seen under an unbuttoned white shirt.

As a subtle hint to the news, the pregnant actress can be seen holding a bouquet of baby pink roses.

The Emmy nominee later took to her Instagram story to post a sweet snap of her 3-year-old son Ever.

“And to my sweet boy who made me a mama…,” she captioned a picture of her holding her firstborn.

Back in March, Michele revealed she was  expecting her second baby  with husband Zandy Reich.

She shared the happy news on  Instagram  last week, writing, “Mommy, Daddy and Ever are overjoyed,” as she shared some sweet pregnancy snapshots.

The “Scream Queens” star posed in a silky robe and white panties as she cradled her baby bump.

Michele and Reich  tied the knot  in a California ceremony in 2019 after dating for two years. The singer rocked a strapless Monique Lhuillier gown for the occasion.

The duo’s new bundle of joy will join big brother Ever, whom the couple  welcomed in August 2020  after a “very intense, very scary” pregnancy.

Last year, the toddler was  hospitalized several times for “scary” health issues .

In March 2023, Michele shared her son’s health issues while apologizing to fans for her onstage absence from her Broadway musical, “Funny Girl.”

“I’m so sorry but unfortunately I will be out of @funnygirlbway today,” she captioned a photo of her hand on Ever’s arm at the time. “We are at the hospital with our son dealing with a scary health issue that I need to be here for.”

The following month, Ever was  admitted to the hospital for a second time  for undisclosed health issues.

“These hard times show you truly what matters and is important in life and how much we have to be grateful for,” Michele wrote at the time. “It’s been hard to say the least but our boy is such a champ and is going to be ok. But it still hurts.”

Later that month, Michele shared that her son was “doing good,” but had a  “long road ahead” of him  as he recovered.

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