The Vella Legacy: A Family Built on Hatred

On Sunday, Malta woke up to the sad news of the passing of Sharon Ellul Bonici at just 55 years of age. A mother of three, Sharon carried with her the grief of having buried her son some years ago — the most excruciating tragedy any parent could endure.

And yet, in this moment of loss, instead of compassion, we once again witnessed the true colours of a family whose only legacy is bitterness and hate.

Scrolling through social media after a long day at work, I came across a comment by Mandy Mallia. For those who may not know, Mandy is none other than the sister of Daphne Caruana Galizia — the so-called “Queen of Hate.”

Mandy Mallia

What Mandy wrote about Sharon Ellul Bonici was not a slip of the tongue, nor was it an isolated incident. It was the latest example of the poison that runs deep in that family’s veins. And it made me reflect.

For years, I believed that the Caruana Galizia clan were the ones who cultivated and spread hate across our country. But today I must admit I was wrong. The truth is far darker. The Caruana Galizia surname was corrupted the moment Peter Caruana Galizia married into the Vella family. That was when the infection began.

Because make no mistake: the Vellas are the root of this hatred.

Michael Alfred Vella and his wife Rose Marie Vella (née Mamo) raised their children not with kindness, humility, or respect — but with arrogance, elitism, and contempt for anyone who dared to be different. Their daughter Daphne became infamous for her venom, but the venom was inherited. It was planted and cultivated at home. Rose Marie, by all accounts, was a woman overflowing with spite. The children absorbed it from the very beginning, growing up in a household where hatred was normalised and compassion was absent.

This is why we see the same patterns repeating themselves, over and over, in every branch of that family tree. The sneering elitism. The cold disdain for working-class people. The obsession with tearing others down rather than lifting anyone up. Whether you are Labour or Nationalist, it doesn’t matter — if you don’t fit their narrow worldview, you are a target.

What we are dealing with is not just a family feud, nor just the aftershocks of Daphne’s toxic career. We are dealing with generations of ingrained hatred. A family that dresses itself in superiority while looking down on the very Maltese people they claim to represent.

The Maltese deserve to know the truth: that the Vella family’s contribution to this country has been nothing but division, arrogance, and the spread of hatred.

And this is only the beginning. In the next article, I will reveal more about the Vellas — and why their story explains so much about the poison that has infected our national debate for decades.