A long time ago (1979), the Duke of Edinburgh was 1 1/2 hours late to a D of E Gold Award ceremony at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, apparently due to some problem with his helicopter. Two young recipients were sitting side by side as they waited, so started talking. One was a handsome young naval officer, a midshipman who had just started his training in Dartmouth. The other was a young student studying law in Aberdeen. Despite the geographical distance between them, love blossomed and the rest, as they say, is history! We have now been married 37 years, have lived in Scotland, Belgium and the US and raised two fantastic kids, both of whom have enjoyed the D of E (one to silver, one to gold level). John has not long retired from the submarine service as Captain RN, with an OBE in recognition of all his hard work. We have a lot to thank HRH the Duke of Edinburgh for with regard to all that he has done for our country and our queen, but we are especially grateful to him for being late that one time!