Did You Know? 21st September Was Chosen To Accommodate Prince Philip’s Diary
21st September is celebrated every year as Malta’s Independence Day – a moment of national pride and remembrance. But did you know that the date itself wasn’t chosen for its symbolic significance, but rather because it happened to fit Prince Philip’s diary of royal engagements?
8th September: The date that might have been
In an interview with Dr Borg Olivier published in newspaper “In-Nazzjon” in 1974, it was revealed that the former prime minister was aiming to celebrate this auspicious day on 8th September.
This particular date is celebrated as “Victory Day” across the Maltese islands to commemorate three victories: the siege of 1565, the French blockade and Malta’s survival of the two-year bombardment between 1940 and 1942.
According to historian Henry Frendo’s “The Origins of Maltese Statehood”, “When Malta was a British colonial possession, she had no national feast of her own as a separate nation.” Victory Day filled that void, giving Maltese people a moment to assert their own identity – even under colonial rule.
Borg Olivier’s predecessor and Nationalist Party founder, Dr Fortunato Mizzi had declared Otto Settembre as Malta’s national day in 1885. Later on in our history, the day continued to mark a day were people who migrated from Malta expressed their nationality and identity more than any other day.
Like many of his generation, Borg Olivier had grown up with the notion of Otto Settembre. The first church built in his hometown of Valletta was Our Lady of Victory. It is therefore understandable that he chose to highlight this day—already rich with national significance and symbolic power—by linking it to a third great triumph for a nation long under foreign domination: independence.
Searching for the “right” day
According to an official in the Commonwealth Relations Office, early in 1964, Borg Olivier had suggested St George’s Day (23rd April) as a potential date, as seen through his letter to Sir Timothy Bligh. In the same letter, he asked for Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh to represent Her Majesty the Queen at the Malta Independence Day celebrations.
At this point in time, some constitutional points still had to be resolved and Independence Day had to be postponed to a later date. To be fair, the idea at the time was that Malta was to remain in the Commonwealth with a monarchical constitution.
It is clear that the date in question was 21st September. A few days earlier, Sandys had been informed by Rear-Admiral Christopher Bonham-Carter that the Duke planned to be in Malta for the Independence celebrations on 21st September. He was scheduled to arrive from Athens on Saturday, 19th September, in time for dinner—likely around 6pm—and wished to spend the following Sunday in a quiet manner.
When Frendo asked in 1989 why the 8th of September had not been chosen, Dr. Carmelo Caruana—chairman of the Malta Independence Celebrations organising committee and one of Borg Olivier’s senior ministers—explained that Independence was such a significant and singular event in Maltese history that it merited its own distinct date, which is why the 21st of September was selected.
As for the date that Borg Olivier wanted, that is 8th September, it was never indicated in official correspondence prior to independence, despite what Borg Olivier had in mind.
Did you know this fact about Malta’s Independence Day?
READ NEXT: Malta Tourism Authority Opens North America Office In New York City
