Villa Guardamangia: A Normal Life for a Future Queen in Malta

Front façade  of Villa Guardamangia. Image from Wikimedia Commons

In 1949, the Duke of Edinburgh was posted as the first lieutenant of the destroyer HMS Chequers, the lead ship of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Malta. His wife, Princess Elizabeth, who would soon be pregnant with their second child, came to live with him. Their choice of residence was Villa  Guardamangia, which was previously occupied by Philip’s uncle, Lord Mountbatten.  It is said that it was in Malta where the future queen and the duke were able to live "normally", with their young son, Prince Charles. 

Villa Guardamangia  was built by Sir Augusto Bartolo in 1900. Originally named Casa Medina, the structure was intended to be a farmhouse.  The property’s proximity to the horse racing tracks and golf course in Marsa attracted Lord Mountbatten to lease the property sometime in 1929. The villa, however, was in a decrepit state and it had to be renovated before he moved in, staying at Hotel Phoenicia in Floriana for a while. He lent it to the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh when they lived in Malta from 1949 until 1951.

Here the royal couple would spend the few carefree years of their lives, spending their free time swimming, coastal picnics and buzzing around the quaint, cobbled streets on the outskirts of Valetta in a Morris Minor.  From the villa’s windows, the future queen could take a peek at the daily life of the locals.  She would even go shopping, make trips to the hairdresser, and exchange jokes with other naval wives, wrote the queen’s biographer Sarah Bradford.

The villa overlooks the Marsamxett Harbour. Described by the queen as a "town house", the structure is a typical Maltese residence, built using limestone and  with spacious interiors. There are two entrances: one is street-level, the other is accessible after taking a flight of stairs under an elaborate front porch. When the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh installed their household at Villa Guardamangia, they brought with them their personal belongings, attended by their British servants.

The princess found the villa’s garden rather “small”  and she took it upon herself to decorate it and the surroundings in a manner that suited her taste and lifestyle. A gardener was under her employ to tend the villa’s surroundings. The key feature in the garden is the long terrace that stretches from the villa to the other side of the garden. In the middle of the terrace, a bench stood where the royal couple and their guests usually sit to get their photos taken. 

While the Duke of Edinburgh fulfilled his role as a naval officer, the princess  worked with the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association (SSAFA) at Auberge de Castile. As King George VI’s health declined, it was apparent that Elizabeth needed to go back home to stand on behalf of her ailing father. They left their Arcadian home and Malta’s cobblestoned streets, fortresses, and megalithic temples, as well as their normal lives, in 1951.  Lord Mountbatten later stayed at the villa while he was stationed in Malta as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in the 1950s.

In 1952, the king died and Elizabeth became queen and was known, since then, as Queen Elizabeth II. She has made a number of visits to the island, which has remained ever dear to her heart. She visited Villa Guardamangia during her state visit to Malta in 1992. In 2007, she and Prince Philip visited the villa on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of their wedding. When the queen returned to Malta in 2015 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, she asked if she could visit the villa, but the family who owned the property, declined the queen’s request since the villa had already fallen in disrepair. The owners were also locked in a dispute with the government over ownership of the property.  

In 2019, the villa was upped for sale, with the asking price at €5,900,000. However, heritage groups have appealed  for its preservation.The government has finally stepped in to buy the house and has planned to repair it and make it available to the public.