Prince Philip, who died on Friday (9), was in Brazil twice. The first – lesser-known – trip took place in 1962, when he toured South America during the campaign to sell the English twin-engine Dart Herald.
The Duke of Edinburgh landed in Brasilia on March 15, 1962, where he was received by then President João Goulart at the Planalto Palace. The next day, he flew the plane himself to São Paulo, but an accident paralyzed one of the engines shortly after take-off and Philip nearly had an accident.
He was then forced to return and arrived in São Paulo with two delays, on an FAB (Brazilian Air Force) plane. In São Paulo, he saw Pelé playing at the Pacaembu stadium.
The second time he came to Brazil, Philip spent ten days accompanying Queen Elizabeth II in November 1968 under military rule.
The Queen arrived at Guararapes Airport in Recife on November 1 at 4:15 p.m. The Duke of Edinburgh, who landed at 4 p.m., boarded the Royal English Air Force Boeing to retrieve her – he had flown from Mexico, where he was watching the Olympics.
Elizabeth wore the colors of the Brazilian flag: a blue hat and a green and yellow dress – described in this Folha report as “quite sober” – while Philip wore a brown suit, a light blue shirt, a red tie and a hat. white panama.
The couple then went to the Campo das Princesas Palace (seat of state government). For nearly half an hour, there was no electricity in the area, and the couple were under improvised lighting with reflectors from the TV stations that recorded the visit and had generators.
The same day, Elizabeth and Phillip went to Salvador. After a three-hour visit, the delegation boarded the royal yacht, the Britannia, which was heading for Rio de Janeiro, from where it would later depart for Brasilia.
On the fifth day of the trip, the couple were received in the capital by then-president Arthur da Costa e Silva. Thousands of people flocked to see them in Congress, the Supreme Court and every other place they visited – hotels and guesthouses were packed with tourists who wanted to see the royals up close.
The queen said she was in awe of Brasilia. “In particular, I was struck by the idea translated into the most daring and the most beautiful of architecture, to build a capital around the three fundamental powers of the State: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary”, did he declare.
On November 6, the royal couple arrived in São Paulo, where they visited the Ipiranga monument, Terraço Itália and spent the night at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes. The next day, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip attended the inauguration of the Masp (São Paulo Art Museum), alongside Mayor Faria Lima and Governor Abreu Sodré. The same day they went to Campinas.
The final destination of the trip was the visit to Rio de Janeiro, where the two arrived on November 8. The official agenda began with a cocktail at the Yacht Club and ended with a dinner offered by the royal couple to around fifty guests aboard the Britannia.
The next day, the two venues visited sites such as Botafogo Beach and Dona Marta Viewpoint, but it was on November 10 that the couple attended a friendly match in Maracanã, specially marked for the guests.
In front of 85,000 people in Maracanã, the São Paulo team won the Rio team by 3 to 2. Finally, Queen Elizabeth, alongside her husband, handed the cup to Pelé.
The next day, they embarked for Chile.