SINGER VINCE HILL
SUNDAY MIRROR
FOR almost 60 years, Edelweiss singer Vince Hill has been greeted every morning by his beloved wife Annie.
In the words of his signature song, their love has bloomed and grown over decades, feeling like it really could bless them for ever.
But now Annie, 77, is on her deathbed, suffering from a degenerative lung condition – and the couple know their harmony will soon end.
Vince, 82, says: “Annie and I are so in tune with each other, we finish each other’s sentences.
“I can barely bring myself to think about it. Like anyone dealing with a terminal illness, we just live day to day.
“But the thought of going home to an empty house kills me.
“Even at the height of my fame I didn’t want to be away from home, I’d want to take Annie with me.”
Vince was a 23-year-old singer with 1950s group The Raindrops when he met Annie, who was then just 17 and working as a secretary for legendary showbiz agent Tito Burns – the man behind acts including Cliff Richard and Dusty Springfield.
But Vince was so shy that one of his bandmates had to ask her out for him – and it took a fortnight for him to pluck up the courage to kiss her.
Breathing through an oxygen mask as devoted Vince plumps her pillows, Annie says: “It was love at first sight.
“I know it sounds cheesy, but it was – even though I didn’t approve of his woolly socks. But for weeks I was left wondering if we were just friends, Vince was so shy.
MAGICAL
“For our first date, we went to the cinema on Tottenham Court Road but he didn’t dare kiss me. Of course, when we eventually kissed, it was magical.
“I’m still not sure if I know exactly what love is, but I know I’ve got it with Vince. For that I feel truly blessed.”
The couple, of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, have faced tragedy before – two years ago their only son, Athol, died of a heroin overdose.
And Vince has been through two bouts of cancer, with Annie a constant support at his side. But when their talk turns to Annie’s looming death, their thoughts are with one of their closest friends – Debbie McGee.
Debbie, 57, lost magician husband Paul Daniels to a brain tumour in March and recently spoke of her pain, describing how the grief left her feeling like an orphan.
Annie says: “Few people have experienced the love that Vince and I have – but Debbie is one.
“She’s lovely. If I’m well enough, Vince will get me in a wheelchair and we go down to the pub with her for lunch, or she comes here, as she lives just across the river.
“She and Paul had a little boat on the opposite side to us and we’d go to them for lunch or for dinner in Henley.
“It was very sad when Paul passed away, we really felt for her.
“You could tell Paul was in love with Debbie and Debbie was in love with Paul. There was just something between them that I can’t explain.
“Debbie and I talked about it – you don’t know what love is, but you know you’ve got it. “I wish someone could write and tell me what it all means. But you should always marry someone who is kind, like both Debbie and I did.” After Paul’s death aged 77 – the same age Annie is now – Debbie told how he did not believe in the afterlife, comparing dying to blacking out. Annie’s views on the subject are similar. Even as she stares death in the face, she is not tempted to imagine she and Vince will one day be reunited. She says: “For me, death really is the end. I’m a humanist, I don’t believe in the afterlife. When I’m gone, I’m gone. “Of course, I worry about what will happen to Vince and I will resent leaving him because I know when I die we will never see each other again. After almost 60 years, that’s hard.
“But I know all of our wonderful friends will look after him and I take comfort from that.”
Vince says: “Anyone who has lost someone knows the feeling – there is a big empty space and you don’t know how you’re ever going to fill it.
“Debbie is resilient but I know that while she appears to be coping well, when she gets home, she misses Paul deeply.
“She was absolutely, utterly in love like we are – we should be in the Guinness Book of Records for longlasting showbiz marriages.
“We spent lots of time with Debbie and Paul. He always had a packet of cards in his pocket and at my 70th birthday, he was doing magic tricks with an elastic band and everyone was mesmerised.
“It was a big shock when he was diagnosed. He went down-