Penny Lancaster jokes she 'deserves a medal' for long lasting Rod Stewart romance
Penny Lancaster has opened up about the secrets to her and Sir Rod Stewart's long lasting marriage.
Penny Lancaster has joked she "deserves a medal" for her 26-year relationship with Sir Rod Stewart.
The 55-year-old model, policer officer and TV presenter has opened up on her marriage to the Maggie May rock star, and revealed the secret to their long lasting romance.
She told Best magazine: "Yes, 26 years! I deserve a medal, don't I? Only joking.
"We don't take each other for granted and make sure we have date nights together - dinner, the theatre or whatever, doing the school run together and having an 'a deux' coffee on the way home, long romantic walks together...
"We flirt with each other and make each other laugh."
Penny explained that they try to "keep the intimacy alive" when they get moments alone, and they love to mark their relationship milestones.
She added: "We're big on celebrating our anniversaries and really spoil each other.
"For instance, for our last wedding anniversary we took a very romantic train trip from Paris to Portofino because Rod proposed to me in Paris and we got married in Portofino.
"We love reminiscing about our life together and also making plans for the future - more romantic trips."
Penny also credited their long standing love with having "time apart" to "keep the spart alive", and they're currently both excited to be reunited after three weeks apart.
She said: "We're desperately missing each other and have been counting down the days.
"Rod generally has a driver pick him up from the airport but I'm meeting him because we can't wait to see each other.
"Right from the start of our 26 years together, we've spent time apart. The first year, for instance, I was in the UK studying photography while he was living in the US.
"We'd spend hours and hours on the phone, talking about everything - including photography and paintings."
And she praised her husband's "sensitive" side behind his public façade.
Penny said: "Rod has a deeply spiritual, sensitive and artistic side. That's what he's like underneath it all. That's the real man.
"He can be quite demanding and he does require a lot of attention but that's fine because I'm good at giving it."
