Pushing their young twins, Ruby and Emily, around the local supermarket recently, Richard Roden and his wife were stopped by a fellow shopper. Taking in the elderly man with his grey hair, deep lines and a rather rotund form, and the young woman at his side, the woman said: 'Well, you must be the proud mum, and you must be the proud grandfather.'
Such assumptions are something that 72-year-old Richard and his wife, Lisa, have heard many times before.
'I grinned and I said: "Actually, I'm their father,"' says Richard. 'She just didn't believe me, and we went back and forth, with her saying 'You're not their father' and me saying 'I am, honest to god, I am' a few times before eventually I convinced her.
Such assumptions are something that 72-year-old Richard and his wife, Lisa, have heard many times before.
'I grinned and I said: "Actually, I'm their father,"' says Richard. 'She just didn't believe me, and we went back and forth, with her saying 'You're not their father' and me saying 'I am, honest to god, I am' a few times before eventually I convinced her.
Unusual relationship: Britain's oldest father Richard Roden, 72, with his pregnant wife Lisa, 26, and their 17-month-old twins
'She looked shocked at first. Then she was ever so kind. She put her hand on my arm and said: "Well good on you. Just do whatever makes you happy and ignore the gossip."'
Gossip, in fact, puts in mildly. For while this particular stranger was kind, Richard and Lisa have become far more used to receiving a barrage of insults whenever people become aware of their unusual relationship and 17-month-old twins. Not only is there a 46-year age gap between the couple, but by the time they got together Richard had already fathered ten other children, had 33 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren from two previous marriages.
'I know what we have is unusual, and both Lisa and I accept that people find it strange - but I don't think that's any excuse for the insults that get thrown our way,' says Richard.
'It doesn't upset me - I've lived long enough not to worry about what other people think - but it does upset Lisa. We don't see what we've got to apologise for. We're just two people who've found each other, and found happiness. What's wrong about that?
'She looked shocked at first. Then she was ever so kind. She put her hand on my arm and said: "Well good on you. Just do whatever makes you happy and ignore the gossip."'
Gossip, in fact, puts in mildly. For while this particular stranger was kind, Richard and Lisa have become far more used to receiving a barrage of insults whenever people become aware of their unusual relationship and 17-month-old twins. Not only is there a 46-year age gap between the couple, but by the time they got together Richard had already fathered ten other children, had 33 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren from two previous marriages.
'I know what we have is unusual, and both Lisa and I accept that people find it strange - but I don't think that's any excuse for the insults that get thrown our way,' says Richard.
'It doesn't upset me - I've lived long enough not to worry about what other people think - but it does upset Lisa. We don't see what we've got to apologise for. We're just two people who've found each other, and found happiness. What's wrong about that?
Happy families: Richard and Lisa, who is now pregnant with her fourth child, pictured last year with baby twins Emily and Ruby.
Defiant he may be, but the relationship has caused a deep rift with his family. Six children from his first marriage (the eldest of whom, at 51, is twice Lisa's age) are barely speaking to him and have branded his new wife a 'gold digger'.
Certainly, the froideur is likely to have increased when, just days ago, Lisa announced she was expecting again.
Like the twins, the new baby was conceived naturally, without the aid of fertility treatment or even a consultation with a doctor, thanks to the 'fulfilling' sex life they seemingly enjoy and which Richard says - apparently with a straight face - is possible thanks to the libido-enhancing effects of his home-grown vegetables.
'Richard has had strangers come up to him and call him a cradle-snatcher,' says Lisa, 'and whenever we go out holding hands, people shout abuse.
'His eldest children are not pleased, and the whole thing has upset my mum, too. We got married last September, and the look on my mum's face said it all. She could barely contain her disapproval.
'And I understand, because she's 51, which makes Richard 21 years older than her.
'Richard has had strangers come up to him and call him a cradle-snatcher,' says Lisa, 'and whenever we go out holding hands, people shout abuse.
'His eldest children are not pleased, and the whole thing has upset my mum, too. We got married last September, and the look on my mum's face said it all. She could barely contain her disapproval.
'And I understand, because she's 51, which makes Richard 21 years older than her.
'She likes Richard - he's not the sort of man anyone could actively dislike - and she dotes on her grandchildren, but she doesn't understand why I'm with him. She's said to me many times that he's old enough to be my granddad, and that it won't last.
'The comments and criticism used to really upset me, but now I just get on with it. Richard and I know our relationship and the life we have together, and that's all that matters.
'The comments and criticism used to really upset me, but now I just get on with it. Richard and I know our relationship and the life we have together, and that's all that matters.
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