The Queen today sent a card with her best wishes to a world record-breaking couple who are celebrating their 80th wedding anniversary.

She described the marriage of Percy Arrowsmith, 105, and his 100-year-old wife Florence as a "splendid achievement" and sent them "warm congratulations".

The Queen will celebrate her own 58th wedding anniversary with the Duke of Edinburgh later this year.

Mr and Mrs Arrowsmith, who have three children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, were celebrating with family at the home in Hereford where they have lived for almost all of their married life.

They were also entertaining friends and neighbours with coffee and nibbles between rests throughout the day.

They claim the key to their long marriage is not to go to sleep on an argument. They say they always kiss each other and hold hands each night before going to bed.

"He can’t settle down if I’m not holding his hand," Mrs Arrowsmith was quoted as saying last month.

The couple’s foster daughter, Jane Woolley, said her parents had received more than 80 cards as well as gifts. The 63-year-old said: "They are opening their cards surrounded by arrangements of flowers and bottles of wine.

"And they’ve had a celebratory card from the Queen with a special little message inside. It says, ’What a splendid achievement. I send you my warm congratulations and best wishes for your 80th wedding anniversary on the 1st June 2005’."

Mrs Woolley, who calls her mother 'Nannie', added that her parents were both "very perky".

She said: "Nannie’s still reading cards and drinking sherry, which she says is a bit naughty because it’s earlier than she should do. She normally has one before lunch but she started half an hour early today.

"She says she can’t dance any longer but it feels good to have been married for 80 years. She says she can still have a drink."

The couple were married at All Saints Church in Hereford on June 1, 1925. They met at another church in the city where he sang in the choir and she was the Sunday school teacher.

Guinness World Records presented the couple with a certificate confirming their marriage as the longest for a living couple earlier this week. With a combined age of 205, they also hold the title for "oldest married couple’s aggregate age".

Craig Glenday, the editor, said: "We are delighted to say ‘We do’ to Percy and Florence’s Guinness World Record and wish them all the best for the future."

High-street retailer Clinton Cards has also produced a special range of cards for family members to send to the couple.

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