Queen Elizabeth’s one-time home in Guardamangia is facing a new threat, this time from plans to develop a six-storey apartment block directly behind it.

Villa Guardamangia, a Grade 2 scheduled townhouse dating back to the mid-1700s, is best known as the house where the then Princess Elizabeth lived between 1949 and 1951 with her husband, Prince Philip, who was stationed in Malta as a naval officer.

Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has now raised concerns over plans to demolish two adjacent two-storey buildings on Triq Santa Monika, which adjoin Villa Guardamangia at the rear, and develop a taller block of maisonettes and apartments.

The heritage watchdog said that while it had no objection to the demolition, the proposed design did not conform with the existing streetscape, and that the proposed height was considered “excessive”.

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“There is concern that such a development will impact negatively on the existing streetscape, context, and the Grade 2 Villa Guardamangia,” the SCH said, noting that the traditional streetscape was still visible and that a number of other scheduled properties were situated in the area, apart from recorded Second World War public air-raid shelters.

The SCH called for the plans to be redesigned to “take into consideration the existing streetscape and context” and said the application should otherwise be refused. Din L-Art Ħelwa has also objected to the application, which is still being assessed by the Planning Authority.

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The once-grand Villa Guardamangia, now in a poor state of repair, last hit the headlines ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Malta for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2015, when conservationists called for the government to step in to ensure the building, which is privately owned, was properly preserved and restored.

The Queen, who has spoken fondly of her time at Villa Guardamangia and its gardens, stopped over at the villa during a visit in 1992 but was not taken back on subsequent trips. President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca presented her with a painting of the property during her visit three years ago.