Couple finally wed after hundreds of proposals, 38 years later

In what might be the most romantic love story you'll read all year, a British couple in their 70s who have been together for 38 years are finally getting married this Friday.

Chris Green, 75, has been trying to convince his sweetheart Ann Turner, 72, to marry him since falling for her in 1973.

He has spent copious amount of cash on hundreds of lavish proposals involving weekends away, flowers and expensive meals. He used the same ring each time -- and each time she turned him down.

"I always knew the big question was coming, but I always said the same 'Sorry love, I love you but I don't want us to get married,'" Ann tells Yahoo! U.K. "It's never been because I don't love him. I absolutely adore Chris."

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Due to an unsuccessful previous marriage and an overwhelming sense of financial responsibility for her four kids, and Chris's four kids, Ann never felt the time was right to get married.

"I think one of the reasons I refused to marry him so many times, is because deep down I was scared things would change if we did," she says. "I used to tell him getting married was just a piece of paper and I'd already been divorced so didn't see the point."

Ann's former husband left her for another woman a year before she met Chris, and Chris's former wife passed away due to cancer when he was 32.

"Because of how my first marriage fell apart, I didn't know whether I could trust him, and assumed he probably had a wife at home," says Ann.

That all changed as she came to learn of his true character and fell in love.

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It wasn't until last November on Chris's 75th birthday that she agreed to marry him, feeling that since they were in their 70s, it was time they did something for themselves.

"I am absolutely ecstatic she has agreed to marry me. We've always been deeply in love, but I've been desperate to celebrate that love with a wedding," says Chris.

"I've carried the ring, which cost a small fortune when I first bought it for her soon after we met, and it has sat in my draw ever since," he continues.

The couple are due to marry this Friday in a ceremony at St. Matthew's Church in Harlaston, Staffordshire.

"I can't wait to be his wife," says Ann. "I don't think it'll change our relationship much but I know he'll be happy he's finally made an honest woman of me."