Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with Malta is one which will live long in the memory. It was the only other country, other than the UK, in which she resided for months, a factor that was highlighted by most media outlets after the Queen’s death last Thursday.
While still a princess, she spent several months between 1949 and 1951 living in Malta as a young naval wife, largely unburdened from the responsibility that would come with the crown in future years.
She lived at Villa Guardamangia in Pieta – which was recently acquired by the Maltese state and which is in the process of being restored to be made into a museum – while her husband Prince Phillip, who passed away last year, was stationed with the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet.
She frequently said since then that Malta is associated with happy memories for her: a simpler time, before she became monarch.
In fact, it was said that the young princess back then had a particularly active social life while in Malta, and she in fact celebrated her 24th birthday while in Malta on one of her months-long stays during the period of her husband’s deployment.
“The Princess really loved Malta because she was able to lead a normal life, wander through the town and do some shopping. It was the only place that she was able to live the life of a naval officer's wife, just like all the other wives,” one of the Queen’s bridesmaids Lady Pamela Hicks once said.
“It was wonderful for her and that's why they have such nostalgia for Malta,” she said.
Her ascent to the Crown in 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI, meant that both she and Prince Philip had to leave Malta – with the Prince’s departure from the Navy being a bone of contention for many years to come.
Elizabeth, now Queen, however would return to Malta soon after – on 3 May 1954.
Greeted by a 21-gun royal salute upon arrival into the Grand Harbour, the Queen said in her welcome address that Malta holds a high place among the list of country’s that she had visited, particularly owing to how it held out against the Axis’ powers in the Second World War little over a decade prior.
During that visit she also went to Gozo, where she unveiled the monument of Christ the King at it-Tokk, which is now known as Independence Square in Victoria.
However, this was not her first visit to Malta’s sister island – on 2 April 1951 the then-Princess, accompanied by Prince Philip, unveiled a marble plaque at what was then known to be Craig Hospital (it later become the Gozo General Hospital).
After that, they visited the quaint village of Sannat and here they stopped in front of the house of Ġużeppa Debrincat, the archpriest’s mother known as tax-Xelina, and admired some young women working lace. Ġużeppa offered a piece of lace work to the Princess before the royal couple continued on to Ta’ Cenc, where they were scheduled to visit a large water reservoir which was being built.
When the Princess became Queen, a marble plaque commemorating this visit was attached to the wall of the house of Ġużeppa Debrincat.
The Queen’s next visit to Malta came in 1967 – three years after Malta gained its independence from Great Britain.
During her visit, she opened the Maltese Parliament, presented new colours to the 1st Battalion King’s Own Malta Regiment – an important military unit which was founded in 1932 and which took on the King’s Own moniker after Edward VII described it as “my regiment” when he visited Malta in 1903, and visited the University of Malta campus.
Her Majesty later spoke at a state banquet at the Palace in Valletta, telling guests: “Things have changed since I was here last. This time it is my particular pleasure to be here as Queen of Malta.”
Malta was at the time not yet a Republic, as it became in 1974, and retained Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, much like Canada, Australia and New Zealand do today.
At the end of the visit on 17 November she wrote to the Governor-General Sir Maurice Dorman: “It has been a moving experience for us to revisit Malta and Gozo. I send my heartfelt good wishes for the happiness and prosperity of all my people in Malta and Gozo.”
She visited Malta again in 1992 in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Malta being granted the George Cross for its bravery during the Second World War, with a Buckingham Palace spokesperson back then saying that she was delighted to be back on the island.
Her next visit came in 2005 ahead of that year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which was held in Malta and she would be back in the country in 2007 when the royal couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary at the Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta.
As reported by The Malta Independent back then, the Queen’s entrance was preceded by around 30 couples who joined the royals inside the garden where the Queen also planted a tree to commemorate her Diamond anniversary.
Among the couples were those who, like the Queen and Prince Philip, were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary that year, others who were celebrating their 30th anniversary and couples who were to get married that same week.
Set up purposely for the occasion, the garden’s passages were lined with flambeaus while a small band from the Armed Forces of Malta played romantic tunes to entertain the guests.
Evidently overjoyed, some couples who spoke to The Malta Independent back then soon after the royal couple left for San Anton Palace, where they spent the night before leaving Malta, said they did not expect it to be such an informal and personal meeting.
It is also said that during her visit in 2007, she asked to see again Villa Guardamangia, which she had last seen in 1992, but the then owners of the by-then dilapidated villa refused.
Their quick visit was before they headed to Uganda for a CHOGM summit being held there and it was reported in British media that the stopover in Malta to celebrate their anniversary was Prince Philip’s idea.
Her final visit came in 2015, when she again came to Malta as part of a CHOGM summit. She was also accompanied by her son, the then Prince of Wales and now successor to the throne King Charles III and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall during the visit.
That summit would ultimately be Queen Elizabeth II’s last official overseas visit before she passed away this week. And how fitting it was that it was to a place which held such happy memories for her.