Do you share a birthday or anniversary with a celebrity? Well, one Iowa couple shared a special day with royalty.

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The Royals have been a hot topic for the past few years here in the United States. With the popular television show "The Crown," Prince Harry & Meghan's wedding, and ultimate divorce from the Royal Family; we've been hearing quite a bit about them. There is obviously a renewed interest in this institution that hasn't been seen since the days of Princess Diana.

There even are several new works that will be released in the next few months about the late Princess of Wales. One will be a musical that will be on Broadway and on Netflix another will be the film 'Spencer' starring Kristen Stewart.


He was 99 years old when he died on April 9th, and had a few health scares over the past few years. Philip was the longest-serving royal consort to a reigning monarch in history. The couple married back when Queen Elizabeth II was just a princess back in 1947. Major wedding anniversaries were celebrated in the United Kingdom to honor their long marriage, and one Iowa couple always celebrated this day too.

It was their wedding anniversary.

This may not seem like that big of a deal. Plenty of people share birthdays or anniversaries with other people or couples. Who doesn't go online to check which celebrity they share a birthday with?

Well, for one couple in Iowa this was a major deal. Both couples married on November 20th, 1947, and while one couple married at Westminster Abbey, Gerald and Dorothy Beck married in Elkader.

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To celebrate his parents' 70th wedding anniversary in 2017, Loren Beck the child of this Iowa couple sent a letter to Buckingham Palace requesting a note of congratulations from the Queen herself to celebrate the major milestone, the Telegraph Herald reported. While they didn't get Queen Lizzie's John Hancock, they did hear back from her lady-in-waiting.

“Although unable to do as you ask, Her Majesty hopes they have a very happy time at the special party being held in their honour to mark this milestone,” the note read.

The Becks were farmers in Elkader for many years before retiring. In 2020, the couple passed away only 32 days apart.

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