Maltese retreat where Queen enjoyed early years of married life is up for sale at £5.3m
A MALTESE mansion that was home to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the early years of their marriage is for sale for more than £5 million.
Villa Guardamangia, on the outskirts of Valletta, served as a royal residence for the then Princess Elizabeth between 1949 and 1951.
She stayed in the rented mansion while her husband served on HMS Chequers with the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet. The property gave the couple their only real taste of life as a relatively ordinary couple before the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
The six-bedroomed house has “great historical value”, a large garden and sea views, according to estate agents Homes of Quality.
It is still in the same family that owned it in 1949. Its last owner, an elderly woman, died earlier this year and it has been put up for sale by her heirs.
A spokesman for the agents said it has been left as if “time stood still”. Items of furniture that would have been used in the Queen’s day still remain and will soon be up for auction.
The house has fallen into disrepair, with overgrown gardens and a weathered facade. But it is still expected to find a buyer at £5.3million.
During a visit in 2015, the Queen said: “Visiting Malta is always very special for me. I remember happy days here with Prince Philip when we were first married.” Former Maltese president Marie Louise Coleiro presented the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh with a watercolour of Villa Guardamangia on that visit.
The Queen divided her time between the UK and Malta during the Duke’s posting, returning to London to give birth to the Princess Royal in 1950.
The Queen’s remark that it “looks rather sad” might not sound a helpful endorsement for a house on the market, but a prosperous new owner could make the Villa Guardamangia in Malta a very happy house. Certainly the Queen looks back on her time in Malta as a newlywed from 1949 to 1951 as happy days, and it was in this old-fashioned house that she lived. True, the stone is crumbling on its porch, directly on the asphalt of the hill running down towards the sea in Valletta. But in 1900 this sort of house was well-built, with high ceilings and thick walls. And it has more than its share of garden, enclosed by houses all round. With no pool or space for a home cinema, it’s not the sort of place footballers seek in Cheshire. But anyone who likes Malta, with £5 million to buy the house and more to restore it, might enjoy it royally.