Torquay couple receive congratulations from King and Queen for 70th wedding anniversary

A Torquay couple have received congratulations from King Charles and Queen Camilla as they mark 70 years of marriage alongside Joy’s 90th birthday.

Bill, 93, and Joy Roberts, 90, from Shiphay, Torquay marked the double milestone with a special double celebration at The Royal Hotel in Babbacombe, surrounded by their family and friends.

The couple also received a very special card from King Charles and Queen Camilla who congratulated the pair on their 70th anniversary and Joy’s 90th birthday.

Joy said: “We were delighted to receive our card from the King and we have put it on the wall in pride of place next to Queen Elizabeth’s congratulatory card for our 60th Wedding Anniversary in 2016.”

But long before the royal congratulations, Bill and Joy’s story began when they first met as teenagers.

Joy reflected on how their relationship began.

She said: “We met at the home of a friend of his called Peter, it was for me the home of a dear lady who had been like a Foster Mother to me for many years.”

“I met Bill when I was 15 years old and was at the Torquay Girls Grammar School and Bill was 18 and a half, he was doing his National Service in the Army and was soon to be posted to Egypt for two years, he asked if he could write to me and I said yes.”

“We exchanged letters, not very frequently!”

“I carried on with my life, our relationship wasn’t close then.”

“We came together again when I was about eighteen at the wedding of Bill’s friend Peter when he was Best Man.”

“We were engaged a year later and were married just before my twentieth birthday.”

Bill and Joy got married in 1956 at St Mary Magdalen Church, at Castle Circus in Torquay.

Following their wedding, the couple began married life in their first home in Shiphay, Torquay, where they have remained ever since.

She said: “We were lucky to be able to buy our first home which we have lived in for seventy years from a week after we were married and came home from our honeymoon in Cheltenham staying with Bill’s sister.”

Over the years, Bill and Joy’s family grew.

Joy said: “We have been blessed with two sons we are very proud of and a growing family of 1 Grandson, 4 Granddaughters and 10 Great Grandchildren we are truly blessed that also includes all their partners.”

Many may wonder what the secret to staying happily married for 70 years is.

For Joy and Bill, the answer is simple.

Joy said: “We realise we are lucky to have been married for seventy years, love is of course very important to both of us. Being able to laugh with each other even when things go wrong!”