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‘Working together is key to a long and healthy marriage’

WORKING together and working hard is the key to a long and healthful marriage, according to Peter and Jean Robilliard, who are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary today.

Peter and Jean Robilliard are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today.				 (Picture by Peter Frankland, 34849937)
Peter and Jean Robilliard are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 34849937) / Guernsey Press

The couple have been together for 63 years.

‘We first met back in 1963 – around May time, I think it was. We were walking around through town and we met,’ said Mr Robilliard.

‘We met and had a chat, and started our relationship then. Then in 1965, we got engaged, and on the 6 August 1966 we got married.’

At the time, Mr Robilliard was 19 and his bride 18.

The pair both worked throughout their marriage, with Mr Robilliard spending a 43-year career at the States’ sewage department, while also working with Mrs Robilliard on their tomatoes in their vinery.

‘Even when our children came along, we used to have them in the packing shed while we were packing the tomatoes,’ Mrs Robilliard said.

Now in their retirement years, the couple have enjoyed travelling further afield, from the Rocky mountains of Canada to cruises in the sunshine.

‘We both had ambitions when we were young, and I think we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve,’ Mr Robilliard said.

‘Then when I retired, we started to do holidays together, and that was always one of my ambitions – to be able to retire.’

The couple had three children while they were running their horticultural enterprise, who in turn gave them five grandchildren, whose arrivals Mrs Robilliard named as one of the fondest memories of her life.

‘Family is our greatest treasure,’ she said.

‘We’re proud of all the children and grandchildren – they’ve all done so well.’

As for what led them to have such a long and fruitful marriage, Mr Robilliard put it down to continual cooperation and mutual dedication.

‘It’s give and take, give and take,’ he said.

‘You’ve got to work together and discuss things together and make decisions together. You always disagree with some things, but at the end of the day, you discuss and work hard.’

The couple are celebrating the occasion today with their family and have been particularly excited to have received a card from King Charles and Queen Camilla, as well as one from Guernsey’s Lt-Governor, Lt General Sir Richard Cripwell.

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