Diane still smiles for him 60 years on

A GOLD Rolls Royce and plenty of champagne ensured that Whitnash couple Brian and Diane Willis celebrated 60 years of marriage in style.

But most important of all to them, every single member of their family was with them to mark the special occasion.

The couple, of Erica Drive, were treated to a surprise dinner at the Angel Hotel in Leamington on December 29, 60 years to the day after they tied the knot at Warwick registry office.

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Known to many around the country for his musical talents, it is fitting that Mr Willis, 82, first met the love of his life while performing at dance halls with the Les Spreckley Band in 1950.

He said: “I happened to see that this girl seemed to be turning up at all the gigs in Kineton, Shipston and Ettington. We started talking and 12 months later, got married.”

Mrs Willis, nee Wheeler, who was 18 at the time, had already been impressed by the young keyboard player, but it was too hard to resist when he used to make the band play Smile For Me, My Diane by The Bachelors every time she walked into the dance hall.

The couple’s daughter Sue arranged for this special song to be played when they entered the dining room at the Angel Hotel on their diamond anniversary day - after they had been driven there in the gold Rolls Royce she had ordered as their taxi.

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But she said: “My dad then said what was really their song was They Tried To Tell Us We Were Too Young by Nat King Cole, as their parents did just that. We can safely say that they were wrong!”

Mr Willis went on to form his own band, The Brian Willis Four, and toured the British Isles, playing with some of the most well-known musicians of the day.

Mrs Willis, 78, who worked as a catering manager and used to be known as ‘Flossy’, enjoyed socialising with band members’ wives and would occasionally travel with her husband on tour.

Mr Willis only gave up his musical career at the age of 75, but the great-grandparents now enjoy travelling together and spending time with their family.

And what advice do they have for young couples? Mrs Willis said: “We have a good laugh. A good sense of humour is very important.”