King George V took great interest in his new American allies and wanted them to feel at home in Great Britain. When the Anglo-American Baseball League planned a special U.S. Army versus U.S. Navy baseball game to celebrate the Fourth of July, the monarch promptly accepted an invitation to attend the event at Stamford Bridge, home of the Chelsea Football Club. What London newspapers called the “baseball match” immediately became important news on both sides of the Atlantic.
King George and Queen Mary review American troops marching past Buckingham Palace, 1918.