Royal digs rescued: Malta palazzo where Queen lived to be reopened to the public

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has announced in parliament that Villa Guardamangia, the former home of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth when she lived in Malta between 1949 and 1951, had been acquired by the Sttae.

The deal to buy the villa was signed on Monday. Muscat did not disclose the purchase price.

Muscat said talks would start with Pietà local council on ways of attracting tourists to the site. 

The villa, which had fallen into disrepair over the years, will be restored by the government. 

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh spent the first years of their marriage living at the villa when the Duke was in the Royal Navy and stationed in Malta.

According to the Queen the time she spent living there was the happiest in her life. It was the only place outside the UK which she called home. 

The home was recently put up for sale for €6 million by owner Marika Schembri and her siblings, and the building is scheduled as a Grade 2 monument but has been in a dilapidated state.

The 1,560sqm property has sea views over Marsamxett Harbour from the roof terrace, has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, grand ‘sala nobile’, and various rooms leading to a large mature garden of 900 sqm. “The property is just crying out for a great conversion and will make a superb residence or possibly a commercial venue,” say realtors Frank Salt.

Villa Guardamangia was built in 1900 by Constitutional Party politician and judge Sir Augusto Bartolo, and was called Casa Medina.

In 1929, it was leased to Louis Mountbatten, who had interest in it because of its proximity to the Marsa horse racing track and golf course. When the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh came to Malta at first they lodged at San Anton Palace, hosted by Gerald Strickland and his wife. Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and her then-fiancé, Philip Mountbatten, first stayed at Guardamangia in 1946.

The couple returned a number of times between then and 1952, while Philip was stationed in Malta as a Royal Navy officer and Elizabeth worked with the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association (SSAFA) at Auberge de Castille.

Mountbatten eventually passed the villa to the royal couple and they resided there continuously between 1949 and 1951.