An elderly couple who got married at 18 and have had tea with the queen have recently moved in a Bucks-based retirement home.

Madeline and Robert Burns, who are now in their 80s, currently reside at Rutherford House in Chalfont St Peter.

Following their move to the home in South Bucks, the couple spoke about their life achievements which include eating with the Queen.

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Their meet-up with her majesty in 2016 was the start of them thinking about moving into a new home.

Madeline said: “Spending a day at the Palace to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday allowed us to reflect on our lives as we are getting older.

“The Queen looked marvellous at 90 and she inspired us to maintain her energy, spirit and health into our later years.

“After the visit, we had a discussion about our current living situation, and how we could make our lives as stress free, healthy and as happy as possible.

“Our children raised concerns about us living on our own, so after deciding our home was too large to maintain, we decided to downsize.

“We lived in our house for 34 years, so understandably it was a big decision to make the move.

“Our family encouraged us to explore all of our options.

"My husband has early Alzheimer’s, so we wanted to live somewhere that was easier for the both of us and where we can continue to spend our time doing the things we love.”

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Robert and Madeline met at the Hammersmith Palais and in 1956, the couple got married.

Their life together has seen Madeline enjoy a long and successful career in the pharmaceutical industry whilst Robert worked as a television producer for both the BBC and ITV.

However, with the pandemic showing no signs of stopping, the couple made the decision to move into the Chalfont St Peter retirement home as they enjoy the twilight years of their life.

Madeline continued: “Even though lockdown has meant our experience over the past few months has been slightly different, the team here have been absolutely brilliant and have really put themselves out to help us however they could.

“It’s been so reassuring to know that there’s someone there to offer support.

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“Lockdown has also brought out a wonderful new spirit in people – only a couple of weeks ago the man behind me in the queue at Marks & Spencer’s insisted of paying for my food shopping for no reason, I was truly shocked!

“Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, so if he’s reading this, I’d like to say a huge thank you once again!

“We also love to sit out on the patio, enjoy the landscaped gardens and watch the world go by.

“We love our time together and we’re looking forward to a relaxing future at Rutherford House.”