At the age of 42, and at the time 15 years into her reign, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away this Thursday (8), at age 96, was in Brazil. At 4:15 pm on November 1, 1968, she landed at Guararapes airport, in Recife, for a ten-day tour of the country — her first and only.
Even before the Queen's arrival, the royal yacht Britannia, which would take her and her husband, Prince Philip, to Rio a few days later, was already moored in the port of Recife, escorted by two English frigates.
According to a report published by Folha at the time, 4,000 men were assigned to protect the couple. Elizabeth II landed in Brazil aboard a British Royal Air Force VC-10.
She was wearing the colors of the Brazilian flag: a blue hat and a green and yellow dress, described by Folha as "very sober".
That same day, she and her husband went to Salvador. The three-hour tour included a visit to Mercado Modelo, where merchants gifted her with a silver Balangandã ( a local traditional lucky charm).
On November 6, the royal couple arrived in São Paulo, where they visited the Ipiranga Monument, Terraço Itália, and spent the night at Palácio dos Bandeirantes.
The day after their arrival, Folha reported their visit to the capital of São Paulo under the headline "A simple, smiling and serene queen". On November 7th, Elizabeth II and Philip participated in the inauguration of Masp (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), alongside Mayor Faria Lima and Governor Abreu Sodré.
The last stop of their trip was a visit to Rio de Janeiro, where the couple arrived on November 8. On November 10, the couple attended the exhibition football game between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro at Maracanã, scheduled especially for the guests.
In front of 85,000 people, the São Paulo team beat Rio de Janeiro 3-2. In the end, Queen Elizabeth, alongside her husband, handed the trophy to Pelé. "Majesty, this is the world-famous player Pelé", introduced Lael Soares, head of ceremonial at Palácio Guanabara. "Oh, I know!" smiled the queen. "I already know him by name. And I feel very happy to greet him."
Translated by Cassy Dias