A DIAMOND couple from Portland are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary - and said they have never gone to bed on argument.

Margaret and Richard Crail, both aged 81, first locked eyes on each other over a hospital ward. The year was 1958, ‘natural blonde’ Margaret was working as a children’s nurse at Richmond Royal Hospital in Surrey, while her husband-to-be was working on the hospital’s admin desk.

Richard said: “I was asked who I liked in the hospital. The lovely natural blonde in the nursery caught my eye. The next thing I knew we were going on a date.”

Margaret said: “We went to the pictures to see A Room with a View, and then had a magical walk through Richmond - I remember it well.”

Three years later on May 6, 1961, the couple tied the knot and would go on to have children Susan, Mark and Jacqui, five grandchildren, as well as two great grandchildren - with another two on the way.

The couple, of Thumb Lane, Portland, agreed that having their three children has been the highlight of their 63 years together.

However, Richard remembers the time he worked at King’s College in London and shared a joke with the Queen.

“I was asked to escort the Queen through the grounds when we approached a lift,” Richard said.

“We got in the lift and she was laughing so I asked ‘ Ma’am what is funny?’ And she said, ‘I hope I don’t get stuck like my father did when he visited’.

“It turned out King George VI visited the grounds and was quite cross when the lift broke down.”

Before starting their lives together, Margaret had suffered heartache at a very young age after losing her mum who was a nurse working at Chatham Hospital in Kent, which was bombed during World War II.

However, the devoted pair have helped each other through the highs and lows of married life.

Richard said: “I think the secret is always be honest with each other.

“Every couple argues, but never go to bed angry and on a quarrel. Communication is key.”