Marriage Secrets From Britain's Longest Married Couple

Kathryn Knight interviewed Britain's longest-married couple and asked what their secret was. Harold and Dorie Coupland celebrated their 78th wedding anniversary on November 5, 2010.

The Couplands, both 97, met when they were 16 and married in 1932 in Middlesbrough when they were 19. They had a "hastily arranged" wedding with no wedding reception and no honeymoon.

Dorie: "We went back to my mum's and had some sandwiches and that was it. There was no need for a big do. It was about a marriage, not a wedding."

Harold and Dorie say they rarely argued and can't remember any "rough patches." The couple worked together until they were in their 70s and raised two children.

Dorie: "We've always looked out for each other. To me, that's just the way marriage is, although I can't see anyone these days being married as long as us. Times have changed."

Dorie: "We've always dealt with what comes our way together. We grew together over the years. We just liked being with each other and we never had an eye for anyone else. And we had fun, too. We'd work hard all day then go dancing at night."

Dorie: "He let me be who I wanted to be, otherwise I don't think it could have worked ... Well, a lot of it comes down to how you treat each other. You have to be kind, and you have to have fun. A bit of give and take. And don't be jealous. Harold's not got a jealous bone in his body and neither have I."

Kathryn Knight summed up her interview with the Couplands by mentioning how impressed she was by how easy-going they both are. Knight writes, "Of course, there's a lot more to it and, while there may not be a magic formula for marriage, Dorie and Harold seem to have found their own recipe. I think it goes something like this: take plenty of kindness, add tolerance, stamina and a drop of luck and, most important of all, season the brew with a hearty helping of that old-fashioned thing called love."