Westcliff couple married at 85 and 89 at Roslin Beach Hotel

Joyce, 89, and Norman, 85, exchanged vows at an intimate wedding at the Roslin Beach Hotel after a whirlwind romance of the last five years. 

The pair got engaged just six weeks earlier when Norman took a knee and popped the question in front of the Sir David Amess statue on Westcliff Beach.

Both Joyce and Norman were widowers before being introduced to each other by their children, and they haven’t looked back since admitting “they feel like children again”.

The wedding was a small, family affair (Image: Norman Giller) For Norman, finding love aged 80 was never something he expected. 

“It’s a wonderful feeling and neither of us expected it,”

“We’re like a couple of kids. Anyone who comes within range of us can feel our love. It’s like we’re spreading it around like pollen.”

We're like a couple of kids (Image: Norman Giller) Joyce, a former Tory councillor, has recently retired as chair of the Iveagh Conservative Club and was a close confidant of the much-loved MP for Southend West. 

She was due to be helping at his surgery on the day of his tragic death, but she was unusually, and thankfully, absent on the day.

Norman has had an impressive career himself as a sports journalist, screenwriter and author, serving as the chief football reporter at the Daily Express and writing a staggering 121 books.

The pair cruised the Thames as part of their London honeymoon (Image: Norman Giller) He met his future-wife in 2019, and the pair quickly developed a strong relationship, bonding over a shared love of musical theatre.

“We’ve seen every show in town. Les Mis is our favourite show and have seen it three times,” said Norman.

“We had our honeymoon in London and saw three shows; Les Misérables, Six and Operation Mincemeat.”

However, Norman also explained how the deciding moment in the relationship occurred at a much less joyful event.

“We realised we loved each other when we queued for 14 hours straight to pay our respects to the Queen,” he said.

Norman describes his wife, who is both a successful businesswoman and former Southend Conservative councillor, as a “wonderful woman”.

“She’s been a Southend city councillor, she’s a chairman of so many different things and her main love is the history of Southend,” said Norman.

While finding love in their eighth decade wasn’t something that either member of the couple expected, the pair are happy to be enjoying it all together.

“I’ve had the best life on earth” said Norman.