CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS

RBG WINS US$1M AS ‘THINKER’ WHOSE IDEAS CHANGED SOCIETY

U.S. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the 2019 winner of the Berggruen Prize for Culture and Philosophy, a US$1 million award given annually to a “thinker whose ideas are shaping human self-understanding to advance humankind.” The prize recognized Ginsburg’s 26 years on the Supreme Court and her work as an advocate for women’s rights. She was chosen from a group of 500 nominees, and will donate the money to charity. The award presentation is Dec. 16.

QUEEN’S MALTA HOME TO BE MUSEUM

An elegant villa in Malta that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip shared before she was crowned will be restored and turned into a museum after being bought by the Maltese government. The Queen has said the time she spent living in Villa Guardamangia was among the happiest of her life. She and the Duke of Edinburgh spent the first years of their married life in the listed property after the Duke was stationed in Malta as a young officer in the Royal Navy. They lived in the home between 1949 and 1951, before the then Princess was crowned Queen in 1953 after the death of her father, King George VI. It is the only residence outside Britain that the Queen has called home. The stone villa has been in a state of disrepair for years, with debate as to what should become of it. It has now been bought by the Maltese government, with Joseph Muscat, the prime minister, saying it has the potential to become a popular tourist attraction. He did not reveal how much the government had paid for the property.