At the age of 42 and then 15 years into her reign, Queen Elizabeth II, who died 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 trip in 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 Sheet at the time, 4,000 men were deployed to protect the couple.
They also landed in Brazil, before the arrival of the head of British royalty, replicas of the Crown jewels. Part of it went to Brasília, where it was exposed at the Valença gas station —and could be visited at the price of one thousand cruzeiros per person—, and part went to São Paulo, occupying a room at the Municipal Theater.
Elizabeth II landed in Brazil aboard a British Royal Air Force VC-10. She wore the colors of the Brazilian flag: a blue hat and a green and yellow dress, described in the Sheet as “very sober”.
From the airport, she was taken in a black Lincoln, model 1935, used only on special occasions, to the Palácio do Campo das Princesas. On the 14 km route along the beach of Boa Viagem, several people waved little flags from England and Brazil and applauded the queen, who reciprocated with waves and smiles.
At the palace, Elizabeth II was received in the dark, as a blackout hit Recife. The lighting of the place then had to be done with reflectors from TV stations, and a structure was improvised on the second floor of the building, where the queen was.
That same day, she and her husband went to Salvador. The three-hour visit included a visit to Mercado Modelo, where merchants offered a silver bauble. Afterwards, the entourage boarded the royal yacht, which headed for Rio de Janeiro, from where it would later depart for Brasília.
On the fifth day of the trip, the couple was received in the capital by then president Arthur da Costa e Silva, under strong sun and a temperature that reached 32°C. Thousands of people flocked to see them at Congress, the Supreme Court and all other places they visited — hotels were packed with tourists who wanted to see members of the royal family up close. At the Itamaraty Palace, they were received with a banquet.
In Brasília, everything was minimally timed so that there were no delays. The steps from the plane’s stairs to the place where Costa e Silva would wait were even counted.
The queen said she was in awe of the capital. “I was particularly impressed by the idea, translated into the most daring and beautiful of architectures, of building a capital around the three fundamental powers of the State: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary”, she said.
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. Also during the day, Elizabeth II circulated in a black Rolls-Royce, and Philip, in a red one. They passed through Vale do Anhangabaú and followed Avenida 9 de Julho, where there was a security breach. Some of the people accompanying the procession broke the security cordon. The queen’s car continued along the avenue, but Philip’s was blocked.
The day after arrival, the Sheet reported the passage through the capital of São Paulo under the title “A simple, smiling and serene queen”. On that November 7, Elizabeth 2nd and Philip participated in the inauguration of Masp (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), alongside Mayor Faria Lima and Governor Abreu Sodré.
Afterwards, they went to Campinas by plane. The last destination of the trip was a visit to Rio de Janeiro, where the couple arrived on November 8. The official agenda began with a cocktail party at the Yacht Club and ended with a dinner hosted by the royal couple for around 50 guests aboard the Britannia.
The following day, Elizabeth 2nd and Philip visited tourist attractions such as Botafogo beach and the Dona Marta viewpoint, and on November 10, the couple attended a friendly match 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 cup to Pelé. The next day, they left for Chile.
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