QUEEN ADELAIDE

QUEEN ADELAIDE

Queen Adelaide’s (previously the wife of King William IV of Great Britain.) visit: winter 1838/39 and the idea of a church is born following her offer to pay for a church – £20.000; When Queen Adelaide, the widow of William IV, spent the winter of 1838/39 in Malta she was keen to find a Collegiate church in the Anglican tradition. Anglican services were held in a room in the Grand Master’s Palace and it was “insufficient to contain more than the chief English families”. The vast majority of English residents were unable to worship together. Queen Adelaide’s offer to pay for a church overcame all objections. Queen Adelaide came to Malta in 1839 for 3 months to recover from the death of her husband King William the Fourth who was succeeded by his Niece Queen Victoria in 1837.  She funded the church from her own pocket at considerable personal expense.

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