Queen Elizabeth Left Behind a Crumbling Villa For Decades: What’s Next For Villa Guardamangia?
Before Queen Elizabeth‘s ascension to the throne, she lived a relatively quiet life alongside her husband, Prince Philip. Stationed in Malta as Philip served in the country as a Royal Navy Officer, the royal couple lived in a sprawling home named Villa Guardamangia. However, after Elizabeth became the United Kingdom’s queen in 1952, she rarely returned to her beloved residence. What happened to it, and what’s next for Villa Guardamangia?
Queen Elizabeth’s beloved Malta home was in ruins for many years
Villa Guardamangia was the only place Queen Elizabeth called home outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. No one in the royal family has lived there since Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle, in 1954.
The palatial home was built probably around the year 1750. , with six bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a grand living room. However, when Elizabeth and Philip planned to move in, it needed extensive repairs.
Reportedly, work was done to deem it sufficient for the royal couple to live at the villa there while Philip held his post with the Royal Navy. The couple resided there for several years, with their firstborn son, Prince Charles, and later, their daughter, Princess Anne.
The villa stands atop Guardamangia Hill. When Elizabeth and Philip lived there, the home boasted views of the harbor of Marsamxett and Valletta, where the Royal Navy’s warships were docked.
The queen’s former home soon fell into ruin. Paint peeled off the walls in the bare rooms. Reuters reported that the garden was overgrown, and a part of a colonnaded belvedere had collapsed.
The queen had her happiest times living at the villa with Prince Philip
Queen Elizabeth loved living in Malta with Prince Philip. It was an easier time for the then-Princess Elizabeth.
She was a young married woman with a young child, following her husband to his post in the Royal Navy. In Malta, Elizabeth enjoyed being treated just like any of the other Royal Navy wives.
“Visiting Malta is always very special for me,” the queen said in 2015 when she visited the island nation for a Commonwealth meeting in what became her final visit, reported AP News. “I remember happy days here with Prince Philip when we were first married.”
“Oh look, Guardamangia, that’s very nice to have,” she was reported to have said, adding that the property “looks rather sad now.”
Coleiro Preca, who hosted the queen at San Anton Palace that same year, said the queen retained happy memories of living there. “She could remember a lot of details about Malta, especially about the time she spent in the country at the beginning of her marriage,” said the former president, as reported by The Hill.
“She was also very interested in the goings on of the Maltese people. I remember taking her Maltese products and oranges from San Anton Garden and her speaking to me about the food in Malta.”
The queen reportedly carried a photo of her and Philip in Malta in her handbag during his 2021 funeral. She also brought one of the handkerchiefs he always wore in his suit pockets.
What’s next for Villa Guardamangia?
Villa Guardamangia was purchased in 2020 by the government of Malta. Plans for conservation and reconstruction works are already taking place.
The rehabilitation will last for the next five years and will cost over $10M to return the home to its former glory. The home’s first floor will be recreated to how it looked when the young Elizabeth and Philip lived there in the five-year renovation project.
The building will also highlight the close relationship between Britain and Malta. It is expected to open for visitors in 2027. A YouTube video shows how the home can look once the reconstruction is completed.
Remarkably, Queen Elizabeth II reigned for just over 70 years. Her death marked a turning point for many in the United Kingdom, who never knew a sovereign other than Elizabeth.
