Diamond couple Ted and Jean Howat have marked six decades of wedded bliss.
The pair, from Lochside, tied the knot at Dumfries Registry Office in 1960 after meeting at school at Marchmount when Jean was just 14 and Ted 16.
They went on to have five children - April, Ted, Stephen, Gary and Debbie.
Ted, now 80, worked as a blacksmith and welder at local firm Penman’s, while housewife Jean also worked for a cashmere producer.
They received a much-anticipated telegram from the Queen this week to mark the occasion after celebrations were thwarted by the Covid pandemic.
Daughter Debbie, 46, said: “It’s been a hard year for them, my mum has a heart condition and has been in and out of hospital but she was really holding out for her 60th anniversary and the telegram from the Queen.
“She is absolutely living for the telegram.”
She added: “My mum and dad still say they love each other more every day as they get older.”
The couple, who originally only had a small wedding, celebrated their golden anniversary ten years ago by getting remarried in a ceremony at Lochside Church and holding a bash for 120 guests at the Embassy Hotel.
