The love story of Queen Elizabeth II in Malta – Most beautiful years of the princess?

Prince Philip and Princess Elisabeth first lived in San Anton Palace. Later they moved to Casa Guardamangia (Villa Guardamangia, previously Casa Medina). On an area of 1,560 square meters is the large town house in Pietà. The building, built in the Baroque style in the 18th century, was inhabited by a priest after a Spanish Knight of Malta.

The villa Guardamangia with harbour and sea views was rented by Philip’s uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten. During Prince Philip’s stationing on HMS Magpie, the married couple were allowed to live there. Rumour has it:

• Lord Mountbatten introduced the couple in 1939.
• Princess Elisabeth was immediately in love.
• The couple did not find each other until 1946.

Their common great-great-grandmother is Queen Victoria, and was raised by the Danish King Christian IX.

Malta was and is an independent, sovereign state. In 2004, Malta joined the EU. During the British occupation, Malta was considered a constitutional monarchy. Her official title: Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith

The Queen’s power was limited by the Maltese Constitution. During the occupation, Queen Elizabeth’s constitutional duties in Malta were mostly delegated to the Governor General. With the establishment of the Republic of Malta, the royal title for Malta ceased to exist.

The Queen visited Malta in 1954, 1967 and 1992. On 19 May 1992, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, together with President and former Captain of the Royal Malta Artillery Vincent Tabone, inaugurated the Malta Siege Bell Memorial in Valletta. She celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with Prince Phillip in Malta in 2007. Her last Commonwealth visit took place in Valletta in 2015. With nine visits, Malta is one of the countries most visited by the Princess and Queen. Canada was also part of the Kingdom, topping the list of 120 countries with around 17 visits. The USA, Italy, and Germany followed with five visits.

Prince Charles was indeed born in 1948, perhaps even conceived in Malta. However, it did not seem common to fly around the world with a baby during that time. Nothing has been passed down that Prince Charles lived with his parents at Villa Guardamangia in Malta during the period until 1951. Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne visited. The Royal Family, escorted by the Royal Navy, arrived in Grand Harbour on the Royal Yacht Britannia. King George VI died on February 6, 1952, at the age of 56.

Besides King Charles and Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth gave birth to Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Air Miles Andy was the Queen’s favourite son for a long time. Due to his many escapades, Prince Andrew relinquished his royal duties in 2019. With the indictment in an abuse scandal against Prince Andrew, as the boyfriend of multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and publisher’s daughter Ghislaine Maxwell, he lost all military and royal titles.

Born on 10 March 1964, Prince Edward was for many years the unsuccessful head of a manufacturing company. The Earl of Wessex is married to Sophie Rhys-Jones, who spilt secrets about the royal family and British politicians to a fake sheikh (Sophiegate). It is not surprising that then Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Secretary of State Kim Howells said: “The royals are all a bit mad.” (British royal family as a bit bonkers).

Prince Edward performs royal duties with charities in the fields of youth, arts and sport, for example as Patron of the British Paralympic Association.

Builder was a Spanish knight of the Order of Malta after the victory over the Ottomans. The former farmhouse belonged to a priest until around 1814. In the early 1900s, Sir Augusto Bartolo rebuilt the city villa in its present form. The palazzo-style villa was named Casa Medina. In 1929, Lord Louis Mountbatten rented or bought Casa Medina, which had views of the sea as well as the racecourse and golf course. Other sources name the publisher and politician Joseph Schembri as the owner of Villa Guardamangia, and Lord Louis Mountbatten as a long-time tenant. After the renovation and associated return from the first-class hotel Phoenicia in Floriana, the property was renamed Villa Guardamangia. Before its sale to the government in 2019, Villa Guardamangia had belonged to the Ġużè and Marika Schembri family.

The Villa Guardamangia was bought from the siblings around Marika Schembri by Malta’s government in October 2019. The Government of Malta plans to convert it into a museum.

The Government of Malta declared Villa Guardamangia a national heritage site. Due to its architectural, cultural and historical value, it is classified as a category 2 (grading of the property). Grade 2 means: A building has historical and architectural value. Slight or moderate alteration of the building is possible.

If you want to avoid the protection of monuments, you apply to the building authority for legalization applications for more extensive alterations.

In 1949 Princess Elisabeth spent Christmas in Malta. On April 21, 1950, Elizabeth Alexandra Maria celebrated her 24th birthday in Malta. The diamond wedding of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth also took place in Malta in 2007.

Elizabeth Alexandra Maria and her sister Margaret were the daughters of Elizabeth, called Queen Mum and Prince Albert (Bertie). They were the “us Four”. Prince Albert was the second-born son of King George V. His elder brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated before the coronation. So Elizabeth’s father Albert became the King of the UK as George VI. He died a few years after World War 2 at the age of 56. Queen Mum died at the age of 101 on 30 March 2002.

Prince Philip affectionately called his Queen Elizabeth Cabbage in her old age.

In the British monarchy, a king can make his wife queen. A queen, however, cannot make her prince king. Then he would be above the queen in rank. That is why Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark knew that he would become his wife’s subject after the death of King George VI. He renounced the titles Prince of Greece and Denmark before the wedding, and was made a prince by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.

We don’t know if she revealed all the paraphernalia in the interview with Paddington Bear. Excursions and state receptions often take a long time. The Queen always has a jam sandwich in her handbag for a little snack.