Special to Iredell Free News

Taylor Loyd, the reigning Miss Statesville 2023, has been named to the 76th annual North Carolina Azalea Festival Queen’s Court.

Loyd was selected from a pool of eligible young women who are vying for the Miss North Carolina crown. The Queen’s Court is composed of eight titleholders from across the state. They will be escorted by cadets from the Virginia Military Institute.

Loyd will have the honor of accompanying the Azalea Festival Queen to festival events April 12-16 and will appear with her in the Azalea Festival parade in downtown Wilmington on April 15.

Loyd graduated magna cum laude from the Iredell-Statesville Schools iAcademy in 2019 and is currently a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, double-majoring in Music (vocal performance) and Psychology.

Throughout her time as Miss Statesville she has traveled to various schools to speak about about her community service initiative, “Healing Hearts Through the Arts,” an arts advocacy and promotion as a tool for mental health and wellbeing.

Loyd is the daughter of Ashton and Cinamon Loyd of Mooresville and the granddaughter of Archie and Patricia Martin Loyd of Stony Point.