Two couples who are marking 70 years of marriage having tied the knot within the same 12 months as The Queen and Prince Philip enjoyed a celebratory platinum afternoon tea this afternoon. 

Albert and Audrey Greenleaf and Joyce and Leslie Hopson were invited to mark the momentous milestone by Patricia Birchley, chairman of Bucks County Council, at the Judges Lodgings in Aylesbury today. 

Mr and Mrs Greenleaf, from Great Kingshill, celebrated their 70th anniversary on June 14 and they have two children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. 

Mrs Greenleaf now suffers with severe dementia and her husband is her full-time carer at home, but Albert said he would not have it any other way, adding: "I look after her, she is the love of my life."

The pair met through work when a trip to the cinema after their shift blossomed into a lasting romance. They have lived in Wembley and Essex but moved to High Wycombe in 1962.

Joyce and Leslie Hopson were married in early 1948 at Wycombe Parish Church having met through work and now have two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

They couple say they are "proud" to have reached the milestone anniversary and say they have always worked through any problems and never gone to bed without saying goodnight to one another.

They also still kiss each other goodbye and hello every time one of them goes out, their daughter Elaine revealed. 

A third couple Kathleen and Barry Wright were unable to attend at the last moment, but they married on August 7, 1947 after meeting at a dance in Wycombe Town Hall when Barry was home from leave from the RAF where he worked as an instrument maker.

The couple were married in Athlone in the Republic of Ireland where Mrs Wright's family are from. 

The couple, who have one son, ran a newsagents in Penn for more than 20 years and Mrs Wright puts the success of their long marriage down to being kind to each other.

Speaking after the event Patricia Birchley said: “It was a pleasure to meet and celebrate with these couples who have achieved something that not many of us are able to.

"Their stories are all different but the one thing they each have in common is their obvious love and devotion to one another which is still going strong after 70 years together – a wonderful achievement, congratulations to them all.”