Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh  will be meeting couples who like them were married 60 years ago, during a stopover in Malta on Tuesday.

British High Commissioner Nick Archer said the Queen's visit was not meant to mark her diamond wedding anniversary but it was a happy coincidence which will be celebrated.

The Queen will be on her way to Uganda for a Commonwealth meeting.

The royal couple arrive in Malta on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and will be immediately driven to the Upper Barrakka Gardens where they will meet  30 randomly selected couples who like them were married in 1947.

They will also meet couples who were married exactly 30 years ago and couples due to wed later on next week.

The royal couple will be greeted by the Prime Minister and Mrs Gonzi and will plant a tree at the Barrakka. The plaque will make reference to the diamond anniversary.

The royal couple leave Malta early on Wednesday.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh married on November 20, 1947.

Their last visit to Malta was exactly two years less three days ago when they came here for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which in 2005 was held in Malta.

Before 2005, the Queen and Prince Philip visited Malta in May 1992 when Her Majesty inaugurated the Siege Bell Memorial, commemorating the award of the George Cross to Malta by her father, King George VI, in April 1942.

Malta is the only country where Her Majesty and His Royal Highness have lived, other than the United Kingdom. Prince Philip served in Malta with the Royal Navy between 1949 and 1951, during which time the Queen (she was then Princess Elizabeth) visited several times, the longest visit being from November 1950 to February 1951.

They returned to the island in 1954, 1967, 1992 and 2005. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Malta in 2001.