Most of the images in this short pictorial series are derived from commercial postcards issued by big or small publishers like Richard Ellis, Salvatore Lorenzo Cassar, Chretien, the Grand Studio and so forth, and targeted the public.

Kingsgate, Valletta, decorated to welcome the Prince of Wales when he visited Malta in 1921 on the granting of the first self-government Constitution.

Portraying as they did, special events, they would have had a brief shelf life – short­ly after the date of publication. Others, like the patriotic ones issued during World War I, would have maintained their appeal through the length of the hostilities. Most of the postcards are real photographs but a few were printed typographically.

Some were aimed at very select users. The Austrian and Hungarian prisoners-of-war locked up in Verdala Barracks, Cot­tonera, celebrated the birthday of their Emperor, Franz Joseph I, by organising a great in-house exhibition in his honour. The POWs issued various postcards showing the halls and the exhibits. I cannot imagine anyone making use of them except the prisoners themselves.

Kingsgate, Valletta, at night, decorated for the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary in 1935.

Similarly, the melancholic postcard of the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, landing in Malta with his family on his way to exile, would have had very limited commercial appeal, hence its considerable historical value and its even greater rarity.

Concluded. Parts 1 and two were published on August 31 and September 7, respectively.

Kingsgate, Valletta, decorated for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Visit to Malta of Prince Ferdinand of Savoia-Genova, Duke of Udine, in 1929.

Royal visit to Malta by King George V and Queen Mary in 1912.

The Duke of York, later King George VI, visiting Malta in 1927 and later inaugurating Duke of York Avenue (renamed Girolamo Cassar Avenue), leading to Castille Square, Valletta.

Royal visit by King George VI to Malta during World War II, in 1943.

The Royal Opera House in Valletta floodlit for the coronation of King George VI in 1937.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visiting Malta in 1909.