By R.L. Bynum
Queen Elizabeth II watched a Carolina football game in 1957 during her first visit to the United States as a monarch.
As The Washington Post reported in 2017, Queen Elizabeth, who died Wednesday at age 96, requested to see her first American football game during her first visit to the United States as a monarch.
Coach Jim Tatum’s Tar Heels were ranked No. 14 in the country but lost 21–7 at Byrd Stadium to Maryland on Oct. 29, with the Queen watching from a special box that was on the Carolina side of the field.
The game drew a sellout crowd of 43,000, the largest attendance for a UNC game that season.
Before the game, Prince Philip posed for photos with the captains of both teams.
It was a surprising outcome in many ways, particularly considering that UNC rolled to a 34–6 victory over Maryland in Chapel Hill in 1956 when UNC and the Terps both finished 2–7–1.
During the halftime show, the UNC marching band played “Rule, Britannia,” a patriotic British song.
UNC finished 6–4 overall and fourth in the ACC with a 4–3 league record.
Photo via University of Maryland
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