The recent death of Queen Elizabeth II has certainly sparked global interest, with mixed reactions ranging from the mourning and sorrow for her passing, to the less sorrowful response from certain countries due to their colonial past.

Nostalgia was the feeling sparked from Philip Fenech, who recalled memories of his father, Joseph Fenech, who was the personal assistant of Sir Maurice Dorman, the last Governor of Malta and the first Governor-General of Malta before the country became a Republic.

Philip, who is now deputy president of the Malta Chamber of SMEs, was only 12-years-old when Queen Elizabeth II made her second official visit to Malta in 1967.

"I remember my father taking notes in shorthand whilst on the telephone with Dorman, who was dictating the preparations for the queen's visit. He would then go straight to the typewriter, and I would hear the clicking of every letter, and at the end of every line, a bell," Fenech said.

Fenech described the month of preparations as intense, having not been able to speak to his father at home not to distract him. He described his father as a perfectionist in his work, "and with the English, one couldn't do things 'second best.'"

Asked what the general feel in Malta around the queen's visit was in 1967, Fenech said that it was certainly a big day for his father, but also for the public.

"During colonial days, it was a very big thing for the queen to come over to Malta. I remember waving the British flag in the streets," he said.

Fenech's family were great admirers of the Royal Family, in fact, Fenech was named after Prince Philip and his sister after Queen Elizabeth.

Fenech recalled a particular moment during the visit, where his parents were going out for a cocktail party with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, hosted by Governor Dorman and then Prime Minister George Borg Olivier, his mother in full evening attire and his father in a tailcoat.

Fenech's family was also close with Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip's uncle who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in Malta during the 1950s, he said.

Lord Mountbatten had asked Fenech's father whether he wanted to work for the British government and move with his entire family to the United Kingdom, Fenech said.

"My mother wasn't too keen on leaving, and my father at the time had just been offered the job as assistant of Sir Anthony Mamo, the last Governor-General and eventually the first President of Malta," he said.

"I used to regret that my father turned down the offer for us to move to the UK. As a child going into my late teens, I had a London craze. My mother, however, said that it was destiny, as the IRA had blown up Lord Mountbatten's yacht, and my father could have been on that yacht too," Fenech said.

Fenech said that back in 1967, the queen was received with more excitement compared to her last visit in Malta in 2015, which was her and her husband's last ever trip abroad together. He said that there was a definite feeling of royalty.

"There was obviously not the huge high there was in 1967 when the queen visited in 2015. Times had changed and so had the dynamics, no doubt about it. Back in 1967, the majority of the people were into it, despite there being those who were anti-colonial," he said.

After the change in government, the new Prime Minister Dom Mintoff came into power and gave the British an ultimatum, which was to either give Malta enough money to rebuild itself or leave the island entirely and let Malta build its own economy.

"The Independence process gave Malta a sense of self-esteem, and Mintoff fought for the country's economy to be transformed into an independent economy," Fenech said.

Fenech said that after the event of the queen's visit in 1967, his father felt a feeling of satisfaction that everything had gone according to plan, and up to standard.