From the hundreds of photos Frank Attard has shot of Queen Elizabeth II, only one hangs proudly on his living room wall, among other frames.

It shows a young Princess Elizabeth speaking to a woman dressed in a black għonella in Kalkara, next to then Bighi Royal Navy Hospital.

Frank Attard. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“All the other pictures I have of her could have been taken anywhere but this truly shows it was taken in Malta because of the għonella,” Attard, 94, said.

Later, the image in that particular photo would be turned into stamps, like many other of Attard’s photographs of the queen, who died last week at Balmoral, aged 96.

Behind Attard, at his Birżebbuġa residence, a small table is cramped with cameras of different shapes, sizes and models, along with camera film packages.

On his side, three black plastic bags contain dozens of black and white photos of the British royal family.

A 50-year career

With a career in photography spanning over 50 years at Times of Malta, Attard’s name is synonymous with royalty.

Young King Charles in Dellimara in photographs shot by Frank Attard.

His most famous one, dating back to 1949, captured Prince Philip and the then-Princess Elizabeth outside Villa Guardamangia.

Posing for Attard, then aged just 21, Philip is seen extending two fingers as he rests his hand on the bench.

The British media pounced on the suggestion that the couple were expecting their second child... they were right.

“This must have been one of the most popular photos of the royal couple at the time in Britain,” Attard said, holding up the picture, which, once again,  went viral on social media last week.

Every corner of the home tells a tale of Attard’s long successful career before he retired in the late 1990s.

On his left are frames of different sizes of his favourite photos, some captured by himself and others of him, on the rare occasions he was not behind a camera.

Asked how many photos he has of Queen Elizabeth II, Attard laughed and said: “I lost count. I have no idea how many I have... most likely, I have hundreds.”

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth inside Villa Guardamangia. Photo: Frank Attard

From paperboy to leading photographer

Attard began working at Times of Malta as a paperboy when he was 14 years old, back in 1942.

Later on, he recalled, a football match was taking place at the Gżira stadium and there was no photographer to cover it.

“No one taught me how to take pictures, I was just told to shoot some pictures and that’s what I did,” he reminisced.

And the rest is history, the camera became an extension of his arm for decades.

At the time, not all photographers were given the chance to attend coverages and a ‘pool’ of reporters and photographers would be organised for the queen’s occasional visits.

Usually, only one photographer would be chosen and clearly the royalty’s entourage were happy to work with Attard.

He shot numerous photos of the queen at social events and remembered being given a strict deadline to snap pictures.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip dancing at a ball. Photo: Frank Attard

“At one ball, there was a man with a stopwatch, who told me I had two minutes to take pictures of the queen.”

At the time, Attard was responsible for providing photos not only for Times of Malta but also for British newspapers.

“I used to go in and take a picture of the queen and leave to develop the pictures. After that, I would have to send them to the British newsrooms via a wireless connection,” he said.

Attard also has a collection of photos of Prince Charles, now King Charles III, when he was a young boy, along with his sister, Princess Anne.

A young Frank Attard

Meeting royalty

Another favourite of his is a photo of the queen holding on to her hat and members of the Maltese clergy holding down their long garments.

“It was a very windy day and you can see how the queen is holding her hat down so it doesn’t blow away with the wind,” he said, laughing with an infectious smile.

Attard has fond memories of the smiling queen, recalling two in particular.

One time, during a press launch at San Anton Palace, he told her he always thought of her during Christmas.

Frank Attard meeting the Queen in 2015, alongside then President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

“She asked me why and I replied that I could still remember that Mabel Strickland used to send her baskets of oranges from her villa during the festive season.”

The last time he met the queen was in 2015, her last visit to Malta.

Frank Attard at Ġżira Football stadium.

Then-president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca invited him as the only former journalist as a guest to a function, also at San Anton Palace.

Attard was also invited to a reception to meet Prince William and he showed the prince photos of Queen Elizabeth II and his father when he was a child.

Not only has Attard captured the royal family’s visits but has witnessed some of Malta’s key historical and political moments, such as when Malta gained its Independence on September 21, 1964.

He has also won numerous photographic awards, including a 1969 award by the World Press Photos for his stunning photograph of the rescue mission of the Greek tanker Angel Gabriel.

He went on to receive the Għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika medal in 1998 and a Gold Award honouring his significant contribution to journalism in 2000.