Whirlwind romance: Peggy and James decided to have a fairytale white wedding - something the bride had always wantedMr and Mrs James Mason share the unmistakable glow of a newlywed couple
By Amanda Cable, Daily Mail, November 23, 2007:
He kisses her constantly, she flirts with coquettish delight, and they both wipe sentimental tears from their eyes when their "special song" - Boyzone's No Matter What - plays on the radio.
The bride's beautiful white satin dress hangs in the wardrobe beside their majestic four poster bed - a reminder of their "fairytale" wedding just four days ago, on the bride's 85th birthday.
True love: The couple both admit to falling in love with each other at first sight. Four weeks after they met they walked down the aisleAnd tonight, they will pack for their honeymoon at a hotel in London - filling their suitcases with comfy non-slip shoes, vitamin pills and denture tablets.
Because when Peggy Clark and James Mason married this week after a whirlwind romance, they became Britain's oldest newlyweds, with a combined age of 178 years.
James - the fairisle lothario - is 93, while the blushing new bride who ruffles his white hair and kisses him coyly on the cheek is a mere 85.
Peggy says: "Isn't he lovely? He's the most gorgeous and handsome man I have ever met. I still can't believe that he's mine. I wake up in the morning and gaze at him, thinking just how lucky I am.
"They say your wedding day is supposed to be the best day of your life. It was, without a doubt, my happiest day - it's just that I had to wait a rather long time."
The story of how romance blossomed after the couple met at a local day care centre in sleepy Paignton, Devon - passions rising as they ate their easily-digestible stewed pears and custard puddings - made headline news this week, prompting an extraordinary media onslaught.
Indeed, our bewildered lovebirds arrived at their wedding to find television crews from Sweden, Japan, Italy and America assembled outside - with the local mayor and his entourage sitting inside.
Peggy says: "We're just a couple in love. We really don't know what all the fuss is about. When the local newspaper first turned up last week, we asked why they were interested. They said we had broken a record and James and I were really confused.
"We looked at each other and said: "We haven't run any races recently, have we?" Then they explained we were Britain's oldest couple to get married. It was a hasty decision, but I didn't want to live in sin at my age and we were both desperate for a cuddle."
With that, Peggy launches herself onto her husband again, squeezing him while he smiles sheepishly from behind his glasses.
"From the moment I first looked into his lovely, twinkling blue eyes, I found myself having the strangest feelings," she says.
"It was as if my whole tummy was turning around. I just wanted to hug him and hold him. Later, he admitted that the same thing had happened to him. It was love at first sight - it just took a whole lifetime to happen."
Born in 1922 in Richmond, Surrey, to a jockey father and pastry-maker mother, Peggy recalls, as a young girl, her mother telling her about love at first sight.
"Mum said it was like bonfire night - you would look into someone's eyes, and suddenly fireworks would go off inside you. She would go all misty-eyed when she told me this, but even as a young girl I was quite cynical.
"I just never believed you could fall in love in a split second, until I did last month."
Peggy's mother could never have known it would take another 79 years for her daughter to find her soulmate. Aged just 16 when World War II broke out, she became part of a generation that lost thousands of potential husbands.
Her older brother, Billy, died on a bombing mission aged 21. Her beloved mother never recovered from the loss, and died from a sudden brain haemorrhage when Peggy was in her early 20s.
Peggy - who left school to train as a tailor's assistant at the age of 14 - stayed at home and cared for her father.
She says: "When my father died, I was in my 30s and it was a terrible shock. I had no other family - I was totally alone."
In her loneliness she met Ivan, an architect 30 years her senior. She says: "I wanted companionship but I didn't love him, and he knew that. Despite that, we married and we were happy together. When Ivan died in 1982, I missed him terribly.
"We had moved to Devon and I devoted myself to tending my garden, helping out the local Red Cross and looking after my dog, Lady."
Then in January this year, Peggy's beloved dog died. She says: "It was as if all the losses throughout my lifetime had come back - I was so low. I found myself a puppy but it is hard to get out at my age, and I was so lonely I just left the radio on all day so that I could hear voices.
"Finally, last month, I rang an Age Concern helpline and told them I was lonely. They suggested I pop into a local day centre for lunch to meet others and I thought: "Why not? I haven't got anything else to lose."
"When I walked in, I was so nervous I could hardly speak. One of the volunteers sat me down at the lunch table and James was sitting next to me.
"He shook my hand and introduced himself, and I said: "Do you come here often?" which sounded ridiculous, but it was a line I had heard in a film once."
James said: "I come here every day. You get a lovely lunch for £3." Then he asked if I was alone, and I said: "I'm very lonely."
"With that, James took my hand and said: "Peggy, there's no need to be lonely." I looked into his twinkling blue eyes and suddenly it was as if those fireworks had gone off inside me.
"I thought: "Goodness, I haven't had these feelings for a long time." I actually started shaking."
James offered to take Peggy for a drive to the seafront at nearby Babbacombe.
She says: "I was worried that people would think I was a hussy, going for a drive with a man I didn't know. But he was so gentle and lovely, and I knew I was safe.
"We drove to Babbacombe and sat on a bench looking over the sea, talking about everything.
"I was just pointing out a yacht in the distance when I felt his arm coming slowly around my shoulder. I thought: "I've got a fast worker here," and I was terribly nervous, but he was lonely and I was lonely too."
Here, James steps in to point out that he is no predatory womaniser. He says: "I had been alone since my wife Dorothy died ten years ago. I've never asked a girl out since.
"But when I met Peggy my nerves just disappeared. I thought immediately: "I've got a good thing going here - I can't waste time. I don't want to lose her.""
Indeed, our lovebirds wasted no time at all. After dropping Peggy back at the day centre, James asked for her number and kissed the back of her hand as he bid her farewell. The next day he rang, and they met up again.
Peggy says: "My phone went the next morning and his voice said: "Hello, my darling." My heart did a whole jump for joy.
He came to see my lovely bungalow but I didn't want my neighbours to think I had a strange man coming to my house.
"I went and told them all that I was in love, and they were all a bit surprised. One of them said: "Shouldn't you wait a bit and get to know him more?" But I said: "Look, how many other chances will I get?"'
Four days after they met, James struggled down on one knee and proposed. His new love - helping him get back up again with some difficulty - accepted with glee.
She says: "I smothered him with kisses, told him I loved him and said "Yes.""
Eagerly, our intrepid couple raced to the local register office to ask how quickly they could tie the knot. Raising an eyebrow, the registrar told them that by law, they had to wait for 15 days. They booked their wedding immediately and went home, elated. Just one slight problem remained - breaking the news to James's children and grandchildren. Peggy says: "James's son Terry and daughter Sue are both in their 60s. James had last spoken to them a week earlier, before he had even met me. Now, we were engaged and they still didn't even know anything about me.
"I asked him to ring them and to break the news gently. But he dialled the number and said: "Hi, it's me, I'm getting married." He told me later they almost fainted."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, James's children and their spouses were keen to see his new fiancèe. It was, at first, a somewhat uneasy meeting.
Peggy says: "We met at the local pub for lunch and I didn't think they were too thrilled at first. I don't blame them - they must have thought I was some gold-digger.
"When we had finished, I invited them around to my bungalow for coffee. I thought: "If they see I've got my own car and that I'm well-shod, they'll know I'm not after his money.""
Quite what James's family thought at the sight of the lovebirds holding hands, kissing and giggling at secret jokes, one can only imagine. But by the end of the day, Peggy had the blessing of her future stepchildren.
The couple then threw themselves into wedding plans. Peggy says: "We went to choose our wedding rings together and the man at the local jeweller's didn't raise an eyebrow.
"He told us that he was 80-years-old and he had married the year before, so we all joked that there must be something in the air at Paignton."
The couple planned a quick and quiet service, with Peggy selecting a smart suit with comfy elasticated trousers to wear.
But news of the engagement brought the world's media to their doorstep. Peggy and James had unwittingly knocked Victoria and David Beckham out of the headlines overnight - becoming Britain's most famous couple.
Peggy says: "We walked down the street together, hand in hand, and people started coming over, kissing us and congratulating us.
"Television companies started ringing from around the world, saying they wanted to cover it. We realised that we might as well go for the fairytale white wedding that I had always dreamed of."
The next day, Peggy walked into her local designer bridal boutique and announced she wanted a dream white gown for her big day. There was, she recalled, a shocked silence from the assistants before any of them moved to help her.
She says: "They all stood with their mouths open - I think they thought I was away with the fairies. One of the assistants showed me some of the beautiful dresses, but I said I couldn't afford them on my pension.
"Then they showed me a sale rail and there was the most beautiful satin dress with plunging neckline and fake fur stole. It was £300, a size ten and I loved it."
She pauses and frowns. "I did hear a snigger as I walked into the changing rooms, but I thought: "You wait, madam, until I come out of the changing room, and then you'll see."
"Sure enough, when I walked out everybody stood and stared - there were other young brides in the shop and everyone loved my dress.
"I wore beautiful matching little shoes with embroidered flowers on them - flat and very comfy.
"When I got home, I threw my arms around James and said: "I know I am 84 years old, but on our wedding day I am going to be your princess.""
A borrowed tiara and embroidered blue handkerchief completed Peggy's wedding outfit.
For James - a former Torbay mayor - the choice was easier. The retired hotel manager says: "I had a whole row of smart suits and we chose one which I had worn many years ago to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen."
On the big day, a vintage Jaguar swept Peggy to the register office where she joined James and they both walked down the aisle to the heady beat of Boyzone's No Matter What - the bride's favourite song.
Peggy says: "We both got a bit tearful listening to the words, because it seems to sum up our romance perfectly. It is all about love surviving no matter what the odds."
Once pronounced man and wife, the couple kissed - and flashbulbs exploded. Peggy says: "James and I were so busy being interviewed by news teams from all over the world, that we hardly spoke to each other at all. It was only when we finally got to our honeymoon hotel we finally had the chance to catch up.
"I didn't like our room much, and we met downstairs at the bar. I just wanted to sit on the sofa together and watch the television with a nice cup of tea, but there was a businessman using his laptop, so we couldn't. "James and I looked at each other, and I said: "Can we just go home?" He agreed and we just got straight back in the car and drove as fast as we could back home.
"He didn't carry me over the threshold - I don't think he's strong enough anymore - but we were so pleased to be back.
"We switched on the television, put on our slippers, had a nice tea and a custard cream and then went to bed for a cuddle. We were quite exhausted."
The couple have relished every moment of married life. James adds with a smile: "Well, you have to at our age, don't you? I tell Peggy I love her all the time. Sitting together with a nice cup of tea is just wonderful - although I am quite tired at the moment and I need my afternoon naps."
Peggy, a little less reserved, throws her arms around her diminutive husband again, and adds: "We were interviewed by Spanish radio this morning. They rang and said, live on air, that the whole of Spain wanted to know how our sex life is. I said " Fantastic!" and the presenter went wild."
The adventure is far from over for these newlyweds. They are appearing on breakfast television and Peggy is thrilled to be meeting presenter Fern Britton - one of her favourites.
She says: "I haven't watched Ready Steady Cook since she stopped presenting it. I think she's a lovely young girl and I can't wait to meet her."
Peggy clasps James firmly and adds: "Who would have thought that I would marry my true love, have my fairytale wedding, and meet Fern Britton all in the same week?
"It just goes to show - you are never too old for your dreams to come true."
Click here to see the DAILY MAIL report
©2007 Associated Newspapers Ltd
