Royce and Frankie King, of Des Moines, Iowa, made another marriage vows on September 16 after 77 years of marriage. The couple, who are together almost 200 years old, are cared for and looked after in their home by a hospice facility. The staff at St. Croix Hospice helped the two of them to celebrate their wedding anniversary with a small ceremony in their garden.
A photographer hired by the hospice facility captured the celebration with lovely wedding photos. The whole event took place in the look of the 1940s. Royce wore his US Air Force military uniform and Frankie wore a high-necked wedding dress. The couple’s pictures now go around the world.
Until then, the couple hadn’t had any wedding photos
The special thing about the photos is that they are the Kings’ first wedding photos. Royce, who is 98 years old, and Frankie, who is 97 years old, got married quite spontaneously in 1944. Daughter Sue Bilodeau told The Moines Register that her mother told her that her parents only had two days to plan the wedding. Royce King was at home on a two-day short vacation before he was posted back to Europe during World War II. So there were no photos of the day that was supposed to be the most beautiful day in their lives, and no corresponding celebration took place. Everything had to happen too quickly.
The photos show the deep love the couple feels for each other after all these years. Daughter Sue described the moment when her father was waiting blindfolded for his bride in the garden: “We brought my mother down the back stairs and led her into the garden.” As she stood in front of her husband in her wedding dress, his daughter asked him: “Are you ready to see your bride?”
She freed Royce from his blindfold and when he finally saw Frankie he had the brightest smile in the world on his face.