Longest-married couple seal 80 years with a kiss

London: Some say it is mastering the art of compromise, others that graciously handing over the remote control will do the trick. But for Britain's longest-married couple, Frank and Anita Milford, their remarkable relationship has a simple secret: sharing a kiss before bedtime.

Today the couple will celebrate their 80th, or "oak" wedding anniversary. But while the Milfords can lay claim to a momentous marital milestone, they plan to celebrate in low-key style, spending the weekend quietly together at the Plymouth care home where they both live.

Milford, a former dock worker who turned 100 earlier this year, said: "Being in love is something you do every day. At our age that's all you need, just us together, no big fuss."

The couple lived in a bungalow in Plymouth for more than 70 years before moving into the Warwick Park Residential Home in 2005.

Their carers say that the Milfords still laugh and joke together like newlyweds, rather than a couple who have spent eight decades in each other's company.

But Anita Milford, 99, confessed that they still have the occasional disagreement: "Not big rows, just the odd cross word. It's healthy."

An affair to remember

The couple met in 1926 at a YMCA dance and married two years later on May 26, 1928. Instead of a lavish reception after the wedding, they went to see a Charlie Chaplin film. Earlier that month, Walt Disney brought out Plane Crazy, in which Mickey and Minnie Mouse made their debut.

The Milfords' two children, Frank and Marie, are in their seventies, and they are great-grandparents several times over. In June, they hope to claim the record for the longest British marriage ever, previously achieved by Percy and Florence Arrowsmith, of Hereford. Percy Arrowsmith died in 2005, aged 105, two weeks after their 80th anniversary.

Anita Milford said that "sharing a little kiss" before bedtime was the couple's golden rule. "To win over your sweetheart you need old-fashioned chivalry," she said. "We do everything together, even after nearly 80 years."

Anita Milford, who will celebrate her 100th birthday next month, said her advice to young couples was to "make time for a little romance" every day.

"I never cared much for big romantic gestures," she said. "Frank has respected me from the moment we met. That's the secret of true love."