Winston Churchill's granddaughter, Celia Sandys, laid a wreath near her grandfather's bust at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, in Valletta yesterday to mark her family's connection with the island.

This is her first visit to Malta, arriving on board the Christina O, the luxury yacht that formerly belonged to Aristotle Onassis.

Ms Sandys is the daughter of Duncan Sandys, who was the UK's Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations from 1962-1964 when Malta's independence was being negotiated.

At the wreath-laying ceremony, Ms Sandys listed the occasions in which her father and grandfather had visited Malta, recalling flattering comments each of them made about the island and its people.

Sir Winston first visited Malta in 1907, en route to a big game hunting expedition in East Africa. He had then visited the Grand Master's Palace.

In 1945, he persuaded American President Franklin Roosevelt to meet him to discuss strategy ahead of their meeting with Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Josef Stalin in Yalta.

In a telegram to President Roosevelt in January 1945, Sir Winston confirmed the arrangements in true Churchillian style, writing: "No more let us falter! From Malta to Yalta! Let nobody alter!"