Gwardamanġa ( English: Guardamangia or sometimes incorrectly written as Gwarda Mangia) is a hamlet in Pietà,

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. Gwardamanġa is the home of St. Luke's Hospital, Malta's former general public hospital, and

Villa Guardamangia Villa Guardamangia (Italian language, Italian – 'look' and 'eat'), formerly known as Casa Medina and sometimes referred to as ''Casa Guardamangia'', is a townhouse in Gwardamanġa, Pietà, Malta, which served as the residence of Princess Eliza ...

, the former home of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. It is also the location of the

Rediffusion House Rediffusion House is a Modern architecture, Modernist building located in Gwardamanġa, limits of Pietà, Malta, Pietà, Malta. Designed by the architect Carmelo Falzon, the building was completed in 1958 for Rediffusion (Malta) Ltd. It briefly ho ...

Overview

, at Gwardamanġa, is a large two-storey building, best known for its elaborate porch which is reached by a flight of steps from each side. The first has a convex configuration over which is a wide elliptical arch. Scroll corbels support the lintels of the sides, while a square-headed doorway is set in an elliptical arched recess. On top of the porch are a series of segmentally arched, louvred windows. Other features include semi-circular wrought-iron balconies on each side of the porch, louvred windows and a 'remissa' doorway. The façade lacks decoration, apart from a balustraded parapet wall. The villa was leased by Lord Louis Mountbatten around 1929. At various times between 1946 and 1953,

stayed at the villa as both Princess and then Queen while her fiancé, and later husband, The Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in Malta as a serving

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer. Philip and Elizabeth lived in Malta for a period between 1949 and 1951, which made Malta the only foreign country in which the Queen ever resided. It has been speculated that her son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

was conceived here. The Queen re-visited the villa during her state visit to Malta in 1992.

References

Sources

* * * * Populated places in Malta Pietà, Malta {{Malta-geo-stub