Description
This amazing archive footage shows a military parade in Valletta to mark the Coronation of George V and his wife Queen Mary.
Celebrations took place outside the Governor’s Palace after the royal couple were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London on 22 June 1911.
Hundreds of British and Maltese soldiers and bands marched around St George’s Square to mark the special occasion.
King George V was no stranger to Malta. As a young man he served for many years under the command of his uncle, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was stationed at Fort St Angelo.
In Malta, he grew close to and fell in love with his cousin, Princess Marie of Edinburgh. His grandmother, father and uncle all approved the match, but his mother and aunt were against it and so the romance ended.
King George V and Queen Mary visited Malta together in January 1912 on their way back from attending the Delhi Durbar.
The Durbar itself was held on 12 December 1911, when an estimated 100,000 people gathered to watch the King and Queen be proclaimed as Emperor and Empress of India.
In Malta, they visited Valletta, spent time at Verdala Palace, and met patients and staff at Cottonera Hospital.
At the time, the hospital was regarded as a state-of-the-art medical facility at the time and considered to be ‘one of the best hospitals in Europe’.
It ceased operations when the new Mtarfa Military Hospital opened its doors to patients in 1920. The building was transformed into a public school and St Edward’s College opened to students in 1929.
George V reigned from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape of the British Empire.
