A Darwen couple who married 65 years ago have been congratulated by the King on their blue sapphire wedding anniversary.

Ronald Preston, 94, and Barbara, 90, married on 28 March 1959. They were joined by family and friends at a special celebration at Whitehall Country Club recently.

Ronald and Barbara have five children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Youngest daughter Zoe said she was ‘proud’ of her parents who were an inspiration to the whole family.

She said: “They are just so amazing and we are all so taken in by their wonderful attitude to life.

“They are so witty and so funny.

“Everyone who meets them is so surprised.”

Ronald and Barbara received a telegram from King Charles.

The King and Queen send congratulatory messages to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and every year thereafter and those celebrating their 60th, 65th and 70th wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter. 

Ronald and Barbara had met at Preston Tech and then lived in Blackburn, before moving to Darwen 16 years ago. Ronald worked on the buses for many years.

Zoe said: “My dad enjoyed his 25 years on the buses and he worked a lot of hours to support us all. He was thoroughly happy to retire. He retired 30 years ago now which is an achievement in itself.”

Both Ronald and Barbara spent a lot of their spare time walking in the Yorkshire Dales. They do not smoke or drink and have kept a reasonably healthy diet, said daughter Zoe, but they still like the ‘odd lunch out or fish and chips’. 

Lancashire Telegraph:

Whilst some people may not be in tune with the latest technological changes, they have been quite the opposite.

Zoe said: “They love keeping up with the latest gadgets. They have their iPads and are always sending messages. They are so tech-minded.

“When people mention them having five children my dad jokes ‘they didn’t have TV in those days.”

And their secret to their long and beautiful marriage?

They said: “We have tried to think of each other through our lives together and our advice to other couples is to just work at it and be considerate.”

“We are still as much in love now as the day we met”.