TEARFULLY thinking about her husband Bruce, 72, widow Lexi Howell, 22, barely noticed the man in the corner of the War Veterans’ Club watching her.
She was devastated – she’d spent three years with Bruce after meeting at that very club, and they had married on his deathbed three months earlier in April 2024. He left her his pride and joy – £40,000 Mustang.
The other man, Edward Howell, 81, had no idea. He walked over, introduced himself, and struck up a conversation. Despite her grief, Lexi found comfort in talking to him.
“He told me he’d lost his wife two years earlier,” she says. “It hit me that we were both broken-hearted.”
They bonded quickly and, despite the 55-year age gap, Lexi soon fell for his silver hair and gentle nature.
But as Bruce’s widow and the main beneficiary of his will, she’s been judged by people who assume she targets older men for their money.
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Lexi, who admits she has a soft spot for war veterans, insists this is untrue, saying both of her older husbands chose to leave her their inheritance.
Reflecting on Bruce, she says: “We were together for three years and I cared for him until his last breath. He refused to die without marrying me.
“I met Edward only three months later, but we shared the same pain and formed an undeniable connection. It happened fast, but I couldn’t help falling in love again.”
The couple have faced cruel taunts, with strangers calling Lexi a “gold-digger” and a “con-artist”.
Yet Lexi and Edward say the negativity has only strengthened their bond.
Lexi, a psychology graduate from Hopewell, Virginia, says: “Edward and I are living proof that age is just a number.
“Never let other people’s opinions stop you from being with the one you want. We’ve faced a lot of outrage, but we refuse to let it drag us down.”
She says she has always felt like an old soul. “Growing up, I felt born in the wrong era. I loved country music. When I was little, my grandparents took me to karaoke in private clubs filled with older people, mainly war veterans. I looked up to them – they were the true heroes.
“My family would joke that I’d marry an old man one day.”
When she turned 18, she experienced “love at first sight” with a veteran in his 60s, but felt too young to pursue it.
On a holiday that year, she met another Vietnam veteran, but the connection didn’t last.
Her first serious relationship came in 2020 when she met 70-year-old Bruce.
“I was 22 and he was 70,” she says. “The age gap didn’t matter. My family weren’t surprised at all – they always expected I’d be with someone much older.”
Two years in, she found a lump on Bruce’s neck, and he was diagnosed with cancer.
“I quit my job and left my parents’ house to become his full-time carer,” she says.
“He made me his next of kin. People in town called me a gold-digger, especially as he was dying, but Bruce was broke. I took out a £16k loan to support him.
“For eight months I cared for him completely. He didn’t want to leave the earth without marrying me, so we said our vows while he was bedridden. Months later, he passed.”
A-list age gap relationships that have stood the test of time
- Kris Jenner & Corey Gamble – 25 years
The Kardashian matriarch, 69, met her younger man, 44, at a mutual friend’s 40th birthday party in Ibiza. They’ve been together since August 2014. - Sam & Aaron Taylor-Johnson – 23 years
The director, 57, and actor, 34, reportedly met at a film audition in 2009, and were married by 2012. The pair share two daughters and Sam has two children from a previous marriage. - Rosie-Huntington-Whiteley & Jason Statham – 20 years
The model, 37, started dating actor Jason, 57, in 2010. They were wed in 2016 and have since welcomed a son and a daughter together. - Catherine Zeta-Jones & Michael Douglas – 25 years
Catherine, 55, was introduced to Michael, 80, a film festival in 1996 and engaged three years later. Shortly after their engagement, the couple welcomed a son and married in 2000.
She was left with his Mustang and nothing else.
“Every day after he died, I slept until the evening, unable to cope,” she says. “I used alcohol as a coping mechanism.”
Three months later, in April 2024, she met Edward at the same club.
Despite public criticism, Lexi, now 28, and Edward, 82, say they have only grown stronger. In March 2025, six months after their first wedding, they renewed their vows in Las Vegas with an Elvis impersonator.
“We had no guests except my mum,” Lexi says. “Both weddings were beautiful. Edward doesn’t want me to work, but I refuse to give anyone a reason to call me a gold-digger. I’m joining a friend in opening a restaurant as a part-owner.”
“Edward’s been married five times. I wasn’t his first love, but I’m definitely his last. That’s a beautiful thing. Don’t let other people stop you from being with the one you love.”