Malta’s oldest person turns 110, with a couple of spoonfuls of bubbly

Malta’s oldest person, Grace Gatt, celebrated her 110th birthday on Friday with a couple of spoonfuls of bubbly.

Born Grace Howard in 1916, and raised in a house in Valletta opposite the Teatru Manoel, she is the only granddaughter of Malta’s first prime minister Sir Joseph Howard.

One of her sons, Edgar, who is himself 83, said she is “very well” and celebrated her birthday surrounded by her family, friends and some VIP guests with a party organised by the Imperial care home in Sliema.

Well-wishers tucked into a specially prepared cake shaped like the number 110 to mark her venerable age.

A special cake for a special birthday. Photo: Edgar Gatt

Health minister Jo Etienne Abela and Opposition leader Alex Borg were among those who visited her on her milestone birthday.

As he was departing, Edgar Gatt told Borg: “I hope to see you next year”.

Grace had two sons, Edgar and John who died a few years ago. She has four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Despite her age, Grace is “doing very well” and Edgar was impressed at her healthy appetite during her birthday lunch.

“She was spoon fed by a helper but she ate a full meal plus dessert. She gulped everything down. I had never seen her eat so much,” he said.

Grace Gatt surrounded by her family on her milestone birthday. Photo: Edgar Gatt

While she was “a little sleepy” during her party, a couple of spoonfuls of bubbly made her “open her eyes and she was more alert then”.

“She is very relaxed. She sleeps well and is not in pain,” he reported, adding that “most of the time she still recognises us”.

She enjoyed a “golden childhood”, traveling with her grandparents. But the second world war left an impression on her. She married Alfred Gatt in 1940 and gave birth to Edgar in a shelter in 1942. The couple were evacuated out of Valletta and moved to Mosta before settling in Sliema where they raised their family.

Grace with her husband Alfred Gatt. Photo: Gatt Family

In a 2022 interview with Sunday Circle, a Times of Malta publication, Grace recounted how Wednesday was their day to host guests at home and she enjoyed reading John Grisham books and listening to opera, especially her favourites Madama Butterfly and Tosca. Her husband was secretary to George Borg Olivier while he was prime minister.

She was also a close friend of Princess Nathalie Poutiatine, a Russian aristocrat who was forced to flee the Bolshevik revolution and ended up establishing an enduring legacy of ballet in Malta.