John Mills, Wife Renew Vows

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/03/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Oscar-winning British actor ("Ryan's Daughter") Sir John Mills, 92, and his novelist wife, Mary Hayley Bell, 89, repeated their marital vows Tuesday just outside London, in their residential village of Denham. The couple originally wed 60 years ago -- at the height of the London Blitz -- in the London Registrar's office while he was on 48-hour leave from the British Army. The Queen Mother sent a congratulatory telegram on Tuesday, reports Reuters, and the couple's daughters, actresses Juliet Mills (TV's "The Nanny and the Professor"), 59, and Hayley Mills ("The Parent Trap"), 54, were among those who shed tears at what was described as an emotionally charged church service. But will the marriage last? "The first 60 years are the worst," Mills told BBC Television, "so we're hoping to push on from here."