The visits of H R H Queen Elizabeth II to Malta : a philatelic overview

Abstract

Malta is the only place in which the Queen has lived outside the UK, and her time here is perhaps the closest she has come in her adult life to a 'normal' existence. She arrived in 1949 as Princess Elizabeth, newly married to Prince Philip. He was a Naval officer posted to what was then British Malta; she was a naval officer's wife- at least some of the time. The Queen remained Queen of Malta after it was granted Independence in 1964, remaining so until Malta was made a Republic ten years later. Her portrait still hangs in the official dining room of the Grand Master's Palace, along with the portraits of Malta's Presidents. She has been back to Malta several times since. This exhibit aims to retrace the Queen's visits to these islands through an overview of the stamps, philatelic material issued to mark these visits and other connected commemorative ephemera.