Queen Elizabeth and Mabel Strickland

As we mourn the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II, we remember her great love of Malta which was the only place outside the UK which she called home during her early married life.

She was a personal friend of my great-aunt, Mabel Strickland, and once asked her if she could rent Villa Parisio as Prince Philip had just been posted to Malta. The young married couple needed somewhere secure with a nice garden to live in. My aunt could not help at the time since she had recently bought the villa from her stepmother Lady Margaret Strickland and had moved there from Villa Bologna – the old Strickland family home in Attard. Mabel, being unmarried, knew she would not have been welcomed back to Villa Bologna by her stepmother.

Queen Elizabeth at the CHOGM opening ceremony of 2005. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Thus she felt she had to refuse the Queen’s request at the time. Instead she promised to help Her Majesty find a suitable place to live in and to give her a basket of Maltese oranges and avocados from the gardens at Villa Parisio each Christmas.

My aunt had also recently purchased the Xara Palace in Mdina, in conjunction with the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, as a home for him to live in, as he was also due to be based in Malta at that time. However, fate intervened and he was instead made Viceroy of India and sent to India to arrange the partition of India and Pakistan.

Mabel therefore opened the Xara Palace as a hotel which was incorporated in 1949. Mountbatten and my aunt helped to arrange for the Queen to rent Villa Guardamangia, instead, which became her home in Malta for two years.

As for the oranges and avocados – Mabel arranged for HM The Queen to receive this gift every Christmas until Mabel died in 1988. Once I returned to Malta in 2009, I continued this Strickland tradition. The many thank you letters and Christmas cards my aunt received from the Queen are testament to their special relationship and Her Majesty’s fond memories of Malta. The Queen, herself, reminded me of this when I met her in Malta in November 2015.

The Queen was truly an inspiration to the world, with her dedication to duty and service. May she rest in peace. Long live King Charles III.

Robert Hornyold-Strickland – Lija

Travelling by bus

On bus stop Marg in Attard, there has been a notice attached since early July advising passengers wanting to go towards Rabat that the bus stop was not being served due to road works. The timetable has also been removed from this bus stop.

Now, the buses started operating again through this route, but the notice that buses will not be passing this bus stop is still there and the timetable has not been replaced.

About two weeks ago, Transport Malta was advised about this shortcoming and the reply was that they were going to look into this matter right away. To date, nothing has been done to rectify this anomaly.

Angelo Polidano – Attard