As Britain marks Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, one 22-year-old man is following along with the celebrations.

Andrew Debono Cauchi has been fascinated with the monarch since he was a child and has amassed a collection related to the royal family, ranging from mugs to photographs, books, pens and statuettes.

The queen played an important part in our past as Maltese. We are, after all, still part of the Commonwealth- Andrew Debono Cauchi

Andrew, who was already besotted with British culture after reading the Harry Potter books, first saw the queen on the news when he was just eight years old and decided to conduct more research to find out who the happy woman he saw on the TV was.

Andrew Debono Cauchi

“She always has a fresh smile, never sad, never gloomy, always telling jokes,” he said when he was first interviewed by Times of Malta 10 years ago.

“She is a figure that inspires. She never loses that radiant smile... it still captivates me,” he says now.

It was that smile that reeled Andrew in as a royal family enthusiast back when he was just a child.

Following the publication of the interview in 2012, an elderly woman contacted him to offer her collection of royal memorabilia for fear it would be lost.

A study of the past

“I treasure that collection very dearly,” he said, adding that he remained in touch with the woman for a while after.

Andrew has written various letters to Buckingham Palace and, each time, he received a reply.

Now, as an adult, his interest has taken on a more academic meaning.

“I always had a fascination with the past. This is why I am studying Classics at the University of Malta. The past is the reason we are who we are today. And the queen played an important part in our past as Maltese. We are, after all, still part of the Commonwealth,” he says.

Prince Charles with Queen Elizabeth during the Jubilee celebrations on Thursday.

Malta is the only other place apart from the UK that Queen Elizabeth ever called home. She lived on the island between 1949 and 1951, in the early years of her marriage to Prince Philip when he was stationed here as a naval officer.

They stayed mainly at Villa Guardamangia, a property now being restored after being bought by the government in 2019.

The year after she left Malta, Elizabeth II became queen on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father, King George VI.

After that, the couple visited the island multiple times.

While Andrew wished he could have gone to the UK for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, this was not possible since he is sitting for his final exams.

“I tried to cover as much studying as I could before the jubilee celebrations got underway to be able to have the time to follow on TV,” he says.