Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, just became the first royal family members to set foot inside Villa GuardamangiaâQueen Elizabethâs onetime home in Maltaâsince 1951. Per People, the Duke and Duchess stopped by the historic palazzo during a visit commemorating the 60th anniversary of the island nationâs independence. In 1949, when Queen Elizabeth was still a newlywed princess, she and Philip began their two-year tenancy in the six-bedroom, three-bathroom villa while Philip served in the Royal Navyâs Mediterranean fleet.
Notably, the two-story limestone structure, located in the Maltese town of Pietà , was the only place outside of the UK that Queen Elizabeth ever called home. Ben Pimlott, the author of The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II, wrote that her time at Villa Guardamangia offered the future queen âcomparative privacy and freedom from official dutiesâ was the âmost ânormalâ of her entire life.â
âThe villa had separate apartments for the prince and the princess, each including a bedroom, walk-in wardrobe, an anteroom, and a bathroom,â Heritage Malta curator Kenneth Gambin told Reuters during a tour of the neoclassical-style residence. The roughly 16,000-square-foot home also featured a grand hall warmed by a fireplace, servantsâ quarters on the ground floor, and numerous balconies with ornate wrought iron railings.
