A COUPLE with royal connections celebrated 60 years of keeping their marriage on track at the weekend.

Joe and Eva Cummings, of Edgware Road, York, marked their diamond wedding yesterday, more than 60 years after they first met at church in Carlisle, where Joe lived and Eva was working as a domestic servant.

Since then they have lived all over the country because of Joe's job as a railway signalman. He later became general manager's chief operations inspector for the whole of the eastern region from King's Cross to Berwick-on-Tweed.

Part of his job was to supervise the staff on trains being used for royal visits, which allowed him many memorable journeys with different members of the Royal Family.

He said: "The Queen Mother particularly appealed to me. We had some very interesting trips with her. She is a wonderful person to know as is the Queen. Neither of them ever complained about anything. They are two delightful people to get to know."

Meanwhile, Eva stayed at home to bring up the couple's two daughters and a son. They now have six grandchildren and six great-granddaughters.

Joe said: "I liked the look of Eva and we sang the same tune, we were on the same wavelength and enjoyed the same things. We're still very involved in the church.

"She's been a very good wife and mother and one of her main attributes is thinking about other people before herself, but it is also something we've had words about because sometimes she should think about herself a bit more."

Eva said: "Joe's very special. We work together and do things together and go to where we want to go and never have any troubles."

Updated: 16:30 Monday, July 09, 2001