When veteran photographer Frank Attard took a photo of four-year-old Prince Charles in 1953, little did he know he would be showing it to the Prince of Wales’s son, William, more than 60 years later.

When Mr Attard, 86, was invited to a reception last weekend at the Upper Barrakka Gardens to meet Prince William, who was representing his grandmother for Malta’s 50th anniversary celebrations of Independence, the former Times of Malta photographer decided to take a set of black and white photos of Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal Family.

“I was really honoured to be invited by the Prime Minister and his wife to attend the reception because of my long connection with the Royal Family,” he said.

I kept all my photos of the Queen

Mr Attard, who started working at Times of Malta as a paperboy in 1942, covered Princess and then Queen Elizabeth every time she was in Malta, and especially during her stay between 1949 and 1951.

During last weekend’s reception, Prince William was the guest of honour, replacing his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, who cancelled the trip due to morning sickness caused by her second pregnancy.

A young Prince Charles stands close to his father Prince Philip on a visit to Malta. Right: Prince Charles, aged four, and his three-year-old sister Princess Anne, stand next to Lord and Lady Mountbatten in Malta 61 years ago. Photos: Frank Attard

“I took along half a dozen photographs of his father and grandparents that I had shot when they were in Malta,” said Mr Attard, who retired from Times of Malta in 1998 after a career spanning 55 years.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat introduced him to the prince and he immediately produced the photos. Prince William said the one of Prince Charles and Princess Anne, aged four and three, standing next to Lord and Lady Mountbatten, was his favourite.

“Prince William started laughing when he saw the photo and I explained where I took it,” Mr Attard said.“I covered the Queen seven times and I have many photos of her – I kept them all.”

Mr Attard has won numerous awards and accolades, including third prize in a World Press Photo competition for a photograph showing a human chain of soldiers and police rescuing the 34 crew members of the tanker Angel Gabriel, which had run aground on a reef during a cyclone.