‘My Father Was The Assistant Of Malta’s Last British Governor And I Remember The Queen’s 1967 Visit Well’
It was November of 1967 and Joseph Fenech was hard at work preparing for Queen Elizabeth II’s second official visit to Malta, typing away a speech for the Governor-General on his typewriter.
Fenech was the personal assistant of Sir Maurice Dorman, the last British Governor and later first Governor-General of Malta, before the island became a Republic.
Joseph Fenech’s son Philip, now deputy president of the Malta Chamber of SMEs, was 12 years old back then but still remembers that time of his life well.
“My memories are of my father on the telephone with the Governor dictating and my father taking points in shorthand,” Fenech told Lovin Malta. “I never could understand how fast shorthand was – it looked like Chinese to me!”
“Then afterwards, my father would go straight to the typewriter and all I would hear was the clicking of every letter and the bell ringing after every line.”
Queen Elizabeth II in Malta in 1967
“It was an intense full month and longer, making preparations for the Queen’s visit. I remember we couldn’t even speak to our father at home. He had closed himself off in his study preparing all sorts of instructions and correspondence, and this after a days’ work.”
“The old dial-type telephone wouldn’t stop ringing, or else he would be dialling himself to give out instructions. He was a perfectionist, and with the English it couldn’t be any other way.”
Malta was in a period of flux back then, having just declared independence from the UK a few years prior but with Queen Elizabeth still Queen of Malta, the island’s move to a republic state still seven years away.
The Fenechs moved within the higher circles of British society in Malta and were great admirers of the Royal Family… in fact, Philip was named after Prince Philip and his sister after Queen Elizabeth.
Philip still remembers his parents going out for a cocktail party with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, hosted by Governor Dorman and then Prime Minister George Borg Olivier, his mother in full evening attire and his father in a tailcoat.
Lord Louis Mountbatten
Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in Malta during the 1950s, often used to visit the Fenechs for drinks.
Philip Fenech said Lord Mountbatten took so much of a liking to his father and his work that he had asked him to travel back to the UK with him to work as his assistant. However, his father turned down the offer and decided to stay in Malta and serve as the assistant of Sir Anthony Mamo, the last Governor-General and eventually first President of Malta.
“I used to regret that my father had turned down the offer.. as a child going into my teens, I had a fascination about swinging London. However, after Lord Mountbatten got assassinated by the IRA on his yacht, my mother often told me what a good decision my father made and that he could well have been on that yacht too.”
Malta has changed dramatically since Queen Elizabeth II was Queen of Malta
Queen Elizabeth’s death has triggered a discussion in Malta about the days of British colonial rule, whether their influence was net positive or net negative, and whether Malta should honour the Queen by erecting a public monument.
Philip Fenech has a nuanced view of affairs, stating that while the British left a positive influence in terms of culture, language and social practices, their relationship with the Maltese post-World War Two was characterised by constant squabbling over financial affairs.
“Malta felt that the British government hadn’t given them enough money to rebuild itself after the war and I remember my father constantly lobbying for Malta with the Governor-General and the Prime Minister to try and get more aid for Malta,” Fenech said.
“Eventually, there was a change in government and the new Prime Minister Dom Mintoff gave the British an ultimatum – either pay more or leave the island entirely and let Malta build its own economy.”
“Although I admired Mintoff’s bargaining powers, I remember there was a feeling of being scared to go on our own as we had nothing back then except our human resources and our courage.”
In fact, Fenech remembers his father fretting about the dismally poor state of Malta’s coffers after Mintoff did eventually decide that the British should leave.
“I remember my father telling me that there wasn’t enough money for wages to be issued in the civil service but Mintoff reassured everyone that he had plans and was seeing to it. Eventually, Mintoff went to Libya, China and other countries and started bringing deals, loans and grants to Malta.”
“It was an uncertain time, no less with political turbulence, but it was a courageous time and eventually we started yielding positive results and our role to political and economic freedom had started.”
Cover photo: Left: Philip Fenech, Right: A photo taken during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1967 visit to Malta. Joseph Fenech is circled in the back row, Queen Elizabeth is right in front of him, flanked by her husband Prince Philip (right) and Governor-General Sir Maurice Dorman
Do you have any recollections of British rule in Malta? Let us know in the comments section
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