A COUPLE who have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary say they had to move their wedding date for a very important person.

Former Met Police officers Bob and Rita Todd wanted their wedding to be in March 1953, however, they had to move the date due to the Queen’s coronation.

Mrs Todd, 81, said: “We weren’t allowed our wedding in that month because all the police officers were asked not to book any time off during the Queen’s coronation, as we were needed.”

They set another date, on June 27, and are celebrating their diamond anniversary this year.

Mr Todd is from Burton-on-Trent originally and Mrs Todd from Chorley in Lancashire.

The couple first met at socials and finally started dating after attending a mutual friend’s wedding, before tieing the knot themselves in Morecambe, Lancashire.

Mrs Todd said: “Our wedding day was wonderful. My wedding dress cost just £5. I had lily of the valley flowers and carnations. For our honeymoon we jumped on the 8pm bus to Keswick and stayed in a hotel there for a few days, that was only £8 for our stay in total – how times have changed.”

They moved into a flat in High Road, Willesden Green, where they lived for seven years, then moved to Taunton Road, Stanmore, and later Furham Field in Hatch End, where they have lived for 35 years.

After leaving the police service, Mr Todd, now 83, became a London cab driver.

Mrs Todd said: “I always loved my work and so did Bob.”

The pair have two children, Mandy Whitfield and Andrew Todd. Mandy is married with four sons and Andrew is a physicist and lives in New Jersey in the US.

Asked about the secret of their success, Mr Todd said: “I don’t know if there is a secret to a happy marriage, but we get on very well and support each other, we were just happy.”

Rita said: “It is about partnership for me, we are one another’s partners in life, we make each other happy. Don’t get me wrong, we do argue, but we both have a sense of humour, which helps.”

The couple hosted a garden barbecue party with their friends and family to celebrate and were thrilled to have received a card from the Queen.

Mrs Todd added: “It was lovely to get the card, we got it on the exact day of our anniversary too. I suppose we are grateful to her sending us one especially considering we had to change our wedding day as we had to work throughout her coronation.”