The Queen’s cousin the Duke of Gloucester and his wife the Duchess of Gloucester are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary.

The pair – who have supported the monarch for decades by carrying out official royal duties – reached 50 years of marriage on Friday and their milestone was marked with a new portrait.

Richard and Birgitte, who wed on July 8 1972, were photographed earlier this week in the garden of their Kensington Palace home.

The duke, 77, was stood with his arm proudly around his wife’s shoulder, while the smiling duchess, in an appropriately golden yellow shirt dress and gold chain necklaces, held her glasses in her hand.

Birgitte, 76, was also wearing a treasured brooch designed by her husband and made of an entwined R and B.

The duke, born Prince Richard of Gloucester, met his Danish future wife, Birgitte van Deurs, who was studying at the Bell School of Languages, at  Cambridge University in 1965.

He cut short a promising career as an architect when seven weeks after their wedding his older brother Prince William of Gloucester died tragically in a plane crash.

Richard shouldered the royal responsibility as heir to his father, Henry, Duke of Gloucester – one of George VI’s brothers.

The newlywed Gloucesters embarked on a life of duty they had not expected.

They have spent 50 years as working royals, visiting charities and organisations and carrying out hundreds of royal engagements, which are listed in the daily Court Circular but rarely reported on in the media.

The duke sees his role as supporting his first cousin the Queen and helping share the responsibility of regional visits.

The Gloucesters have three children – the Earl of Ulster, Lady Davina Windsor and Lady Rose Gilman.