On May 18 Mellieha Group went on a visit to Her Excellency Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta, at the Palace in San Anton. The visit had been arranged by Chairman Mavis. It was very disappointing that on that day the heavens decided to open once again and tried their best to spoil our outing. However, the morning was a great success. Though some of our members felt unable to face the heavy rain, a large number of persons did come along.
To make things worse, our bus was about twenty minutes late; the driver had been given the wrong meeting point! However, by sheer good luck the President had informed us earlier that she had to postpone meeting us till 10am instead of 9am, so that worked out very well. We had the tour of the palace first, starting with the Russian Chapel and going through all the state rooms where the President meets foreign dignitaries as well as local members of parliament, the new dining room, and the formal Office of the President which is only used very rarely when H.E. has to sign important documents during state visits. We were also shown a smaller state room which the staff know as the ‘tete a tete’ room, where Her Excellency meets people who she wants to speak to in a more intimate way. She particularly asked the staff to move the chairs closer to the large round coffee table so that a less formal atmosphere could be created. Our very able lady guide was keen to point out various items of interest, such the chandeliers, some of which were hand made, and the large number of sets of lovely vases in all the rooms, in which, apparently the Knights of St John used to preserve medicines. She also pointed out important paintings and other items of great interest such a special wing closed to tourists which houses the state private suites for V.I.P.s during their visits to Malta. H.M. the Queen has slept there many times.
At the end of the tour, we were offered tea/coffee and cake and then H. E.the President came out to meet us. She shook hands with all of us and chatted to quite a few of us. Mavis Bond then thanked Her Excellency for arranging for us to view the palace and for being gracious in meeting with us in spite of her busy schedule. A cheque for €200 was presented to her Excellency by Joyce Gronow, Hon Treasurer and Shirley Clark our Social Secretary in aid of the Community Chest Fund. Her Excellency thanked the Group for our generosity and told us that the Community Chest Fund donates €230,000 every four weeks to groups or members of the community who are in need of financial aid.
Written by Vicky Rylance
Photographs by Eileen Ellis
