The Only Place Outside of Britain That Queen Elizabeth Ever Called Home
By WILLA HART
History - Science
Many know Buckingham Palace and the Scottish estate Balmoral Castle as Queen Elizabeth II’s homes, but few are aware that the queen lived outside of the United Kingdom for a brief time. From 1949 to 1951, the then-princess and her husband, Prince Phillip, lived in Malta, a small island country in the middle of the Mediterranean.
The former colony served as an important naval base for the British military wing for many years and is where Prince Phillip was stationed during his time in the Navy. Villa Guardamangia served as their home and was located in the capital city, Valletta, and was said to have six bedrooms, three bathrooms, servants' quarters, and a view of a nearby harbor.
The soon-to-be queen and her husband left Malta in 1951, and Villa Guardamangia became rundown after decades of neglect. However, the Maltese government bought the house in 2020 to renovate the villa and open it to the public as a Maltese history museum where some areas will be restored to their appearance when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip lived there.