A middle-aged grandmother and her husband are defying their critics by celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary , despite their 29-year age gap . William Smith was just 15 when he fell in love with his best friend 's mother , Marilyn Buttigieg , who was then 44 years old . The couple , from Crawley , West Sussex , shared their first date and kiss in September 2005 . They came under fire from family and friends for the substantial age gap when they became an item when William was 16 . Scroll down for video . William Smith was just 16 when he fell in love with his best friend 's mother , Marilyn Buttigieg , then 44 . But they feel they have proved their critics wrong because they are still together . The pair tied the knot six years ago this month , after being together for four years . Grandmother-of-eight Marilyn , now 54 , said : 'The age gap does n't matter . Age is just a number and it 's about time people got over it . ' William , now 25 , says it was love at first sight when he clasped eyes on Marilyn - after being invited round to play computer games with her son . William , who unusually took his wife 's surname when they got married , said : 'Three or four months went by , then another couple of months - I did n't have the courage to say anything about it , probably due to the fact of the age gap , and the fact she was my mate 's mum . ' The grandmother-of-eight , 54 , said : 'The age gap does n't matter ' and she 'Could n't wish for anything better ' When he finally asked her out , the mother-of-seven dumped her then husband and entered a relationship with the teen . The couple faced a lot of criticism from people who disapproved of the 29-year age gap and predicted the marriage was doomed to failure - and Marilyn 's children have all but cut off contact with the loved-up pair . Marilyn , who works at a doctors ' surgery in Crawley Down , said of their marriage : ' I could n't wish for anything better than my marriage and husband . 'We proved all critics wrong . Everybody was saying it was n't going to last - we 've proved we are a real thing . ' William added : ' I do n't look at Marilyn and think , 'She 's nearly 30 years older than me . ' She 's a nice person so age does n't matter . ' William says it was love at first sight when he clasped eyes on Marilyn . Mother-of-seven Marilyn said she and William still had to put up with people giving them the occasional odd looks in the street . Previously-wed Marilyn added : ' I suppose we always will but people should realise by now after all these years it 's a real thing and let us be . We thought it would stop . 'We would always have the odd looks , we do n't really care to be honest . 'We 've had so much grief over the years nothing shocks us any more . The age gap does n't matter . 'Age is just a number and it 's about time people got over it . ' William said he had noticed how time seemed to be flying by as he and his wife built their life together . Marilyn hates her 'cougar ' tag , and insists there are double standards for men dating younger women . She said : 'It 's OK for a man to do it , why is it not OK if a woman does it ? ' Like many young husbands , William said he had noticed how time seemed to be flying by as he and his wife built their life together . He said : 'Everything is good in our relationship . I just can not fathom where the time has gone . Our main goal is to make more memories . 'Hopefully time slows down a bit because it 's going too quickly . '
William Smith was 15 when he fell in love with Marilyn Buttigieg , then 44 . Met after he was invited round to play computer games with her son . Pair , from Crawley , West Sussex , say they have proved their critics wrong . Marilyn 's children have all but cut off contact with the loved-up pair . Marilyn , now 54 , left her then husband to be with William , now 25 .