The licence plates assigned to the official cars used by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during the Commonwealth summit held in Malta in 2005 will be auctioned later this month.

The ‘E II R’ and ‘HRH’ plates will have €1,000 starting bids. The plates depict the Maltese flag wrapped around a blue globe, the logo that was chosen for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 10 years ago.

Also auctioned will be the registration plates, ‘CHOGM 338,’ used by former UK prime minister Tony Blair, ‘CHOGM 327,’ for former Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon, ‘CHOGM 121,’ for former Cameroon prime minister Ephraim Inoni and ‘CHOGM 146,’ from former Jamaican prime minister Percival Patterson, .

Pierre Grech Pillow, of Obelisk Auctioneers and Valuers, said the items formed part of a private collection and would be sold separately at the auction. The registration plates were first auctioned in 2006, together with the 59 luxury BMWs that were used by the heads of State and of government.

The auction raised about €4.6 million, which was donated to l-Istrina, the annual fund-raising marathon in aid of the Community Chest Fund.

Mr Grech Pillow noted that the plates now had an extra significance because, this year, Malta would be hosting the CHOGM for the second time between November 27 and 29.

The Maltese government offered to host CHOGM at the 11th hour, following the decision by Mauritius to withdraw from hosting it in protest at the poor human rights record of Sri Lanka, which organised the previous summit.

CHOGM is held every two years and brings together leaders from 53 countries, home to 2.2 billion citizens, of whom 60 per cent are below the age of 30.

Viewing of the items to be auctioned starts tomorrow and ends Monday. The registration plates will be auctioned on June 30.

For more information, visit www.obeliskauctions.com.