A couple who shared their first kiss in front of the gates of Leicester City's Filbert Street football ground are celebrating their diamond wedding.
Roy and Rita White, from Wigston, received a card from the Queen to mark 60 years of marriage on Thursday.
The couple met on a blind date set up by Roy's friend when the pair were teenagers.
"We went to the picture house in Granby Street to see Winchester 73," said Roy, 81. "It was an older picture house and we went upstairs, trying to show off on a first date, and Rita's chair was half broken.
"I tried to lift it up at the back to fix it and hit her on the nose with it.
"Fortunately, it wasn't too bad, but not a great thing for a first date. Thankfully, it didn't put her off.
"To make our story even more romantic – and she won't thank me for telling you this – but I gave her a first kiss by the gates of City's Filbert Street ground when I was walking her home one night.''
The pair, who often went to dances at De Montfort Hall, married at Holy Apostles Church in Fosse Road, Leicester.
They had planned to get married in September of that year, but Roy was called up to the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.
"Even though he was never sent to serve in the Korean War, the couple wanted to get married earlier in case he was called abroad.
The pair bought their first house in Beaconsfield Road, off Narborough Road, in Leicester's West End, once Roy had finished two years serving in the UK, after saving up about £2 a week.
They have three children, four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Roy spent his a career as a carpenter and then a technical rep at Bostik adhesive company. Rita, 78, was a housewife and mother.
When asked what the secret was to their long and happy marriage, Roy said: "We are a very close-knit family. She looks after me and I think myself very lucky."
The couple celebrated with a family breakfast yesterday and are planning a party at the King Power Stadium.
