The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were taken on a tour of a Maltese villa where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip lived more than 70 years ago.
Edward and Sophie were guided around Villa Guardamangia on the third day of their tour of Malta and were told about restoration work being carried out on the late monarch’s former residence.
Queen Elizabeth II and Philip lived at the six-bedroom mansion between 1949 and 1951, while the prince was serving as a Royal Navy officer and before the death of King George VI, Elizabeth’s father, in 1952.
In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II fondly remembered “happy days” at the villa on the outskirts of Malta’s capital Valletta during her early days of marriage, saying: “Visiting Malta is always very special for me.”
During their visit, the duke and duchess also met Elizabeth Pule – whose mother, Jessie, was a housekeeper for the monarch – and swapped stories about the late Queen.
“I know that my mother spotted your mother in a crowd when she came on a visit,” Edward told Ms Pule. “She never forgot her.”
Edward and Sophie were also given a private moment at the top end of the garden near a derelict fountain, and bells were rung by a local priest during the tour in honour of the royal’s visit.
Toward the end of the tour, Edward and Sophie were asked to pose for a photo on the roof – to recreate a famous photo of the late Queen and Philip.
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Speaking after the tour, assistant curator at Heritage Malta Giancarlo Azzopardi said there is an “attachment” between the villa and the Royal Family.
“Specifically with the older generation that remembers Malta as a British colony and later as a British base, there’s always that attachment,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s a nostalgic element and then you obviously have the celebrity status of the royal family, so there is that link.”
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Mr Azzopardi also said the late Queen “was living here at a time when there was a question about whether or not [Maltese] independence was going to happen”.
“Despite the idea, the misconception, that she was here as a regular sailor’s wife, she was quite busy,” he said. “Every single day she was at an event.”
The Maltese government purchased the property – which had fallen into disrepair – in 2019 to restore it and turn it into a tourist attraction.
Heritage Malta has since been granted around £8.4m to restore the villa and plans to refurbish it as a 1950s house by 2030 or 2031.
