UK couple tell of £53 million EuroMillions win

Apr 4, 2015, 8:44 am (20 comments)

Euro Millions

A Lincolnshire woman told her husband "don't be so stupid" when he revealed they had won £53m (US$79 million) on the lottery.

Richard and Angela Maxwell, both 67, from Boston, won £53,193,914 in the EuroMillions jackpot draw on Tuesday. Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England.

It is the 10th-biggest UK lottery win, with the couple saying they would help family and friends.

Mr. Maxwell said he waited for four hours to tell his wife as she did not answer her mobile phone and then she thought it was an April Fool's joke.

Mr. Maxwell said he checked the results online on Wednesday and was left "in shock" when they matched.

But he could not tell his wife as she was out at a luncheon club.

"When she came back later that afternoon, she was carrying a basket of tea towels and she started asking me about our dinner plans that evening," he said.

"I immediately told her we weren't going out for dinner. I said 'We can't go out for dinner Angela, I've got something to tell you'."

Mrs. Maxwell said, "I didn't know what to think. Richard just went red in the face and then said 'We've won £53 million'.

"I just said 'Don't be stupid' — he's always playing jokes so I thought it was an April Fool. I just didn't believe it then he showed me the numbers on the website and I dropped the basket of tea towels on the floor.

"I then just sat down in the chair for about half an hour stunned."

The couple, who have two daughters, said they were still planning what to do with the money but that helping their family, and their wider community, was top of the list.

On Wednesday, another couple revealed they scooped a £1m lottery win for a second time.

Dave and Kathleen Long, from Scunthorpe, won their first jackpot in 2013.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

BBC, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

cbr$'s avatarcbr$

Congratulation to both couples, on their wins. Great  it not a April Fool's joke.Green laugh

ThatScaryChick's avatarThatScaryChick

Congrats to Richard and Angela Maxwell on their huge win!

Piaceri

Nice win! Congrats! Banana

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Awesome!

Party

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

Congrats to the Maxwell family!

music*'s avatarmusic*

 They look like a normal , happy, loving couple who will do good things with their winnings. Congratulations !

Jordi88

Congrats to this lovely couple. I hope they won't regret going public with there winnings like many other winners did in UK

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by Jordi88 on Apr 4, 2015

Congrats to this lovely couple. I hope they won't regret going public with there winnings like many other winners did in UK

Skeptical wonders how many knew they could be anonymous to start with vs those that didn't ??

Jordi88

You get told the options you have when you claim the price. That's way it baffles me why so many winners still go public....

Seattlejohn

Quote: Originally posted by Jordi88 on Apr 4, 2015

You get told the options you have when you claim the price. That's way it baffles me why so many winners still go public....

I don't understand it, either; it must be narcissism or something.  I'm guessing it works differently in the UK, because here in the states (unless anonymity is allowed in the state the winner live in or they allow you to use a blind trust to claim the prize) your name & city is openly disclosed.  The reason given is to "preserve the transparency of the lottery", but to me that's just a bunch of BS.  The only people who benefit from the publicity are lottery executives, whose incentive compensation (unbeknown to most people) is tied to ticket sales; they know publicity of a big win makes ticket sales spike upwards, meaning more commissions to them.  And, the lottery officials are perfectly aware of what potential problems (thieves, burglars, robbers, scammers, kidnappers, murderers, etc.) can befall a lottery winner, but don't mention them; they simply suggest that the winners "talk to their lawyer".

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by Jordi88 on Apr 4, 2015

You get told the options you have when you claim the price. That's way it baffles me why so many winners still go public....

Doing so do allow them to announce to all their friends and family members even the old and forgotten ones that they have finally arrived and are now millionaires.

myturn's avatarmyturn

One of the most important decisions for new winners to make is whether to opt to go public or remain anonymous. If a winner decides to talk publicly about their win, Camelot’s PR team will organise a press conference and handle all media interest on their behalf, removing the anxiety that can accompany talking about a big win.

 

If they have requested to remain anonymous, Camelot takes its obligations and duty of care to protect winners’ privacy very seriously. Unless a winner agrees to take full publicity and signs an agreement to that effect, no information about them can be released by Camelot into the public domain.

 

Camelot Group are the operators of the UK National Lottery. Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery franchise in May 1994.

myturn's avatarmyturn

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (OTPP), commonly referred to as Teachers',  also owns Camelot Group PLC, which holds an exclusive licence to operate the U.K. National Lottery.

 

I find amusing that UK lottery players are helping to fund the pensions of Ontario's teachers.

myturn's avatarmyturn

Quote: Originally posted by Jordi88 on Apr 4, 2015

Congrats to this lovely couple. I hope they won't regret going public with there winnings like many other winners did in UK

Most UK lottery winners choose to remain anonymous.

Top UK jackpot winners

£161,653,000 - Colin and Chris Weir from Scotland in 2011

 

£148,656,000 - Gillian and Adrian Bayford from Suffolk in 2012

 

£113,019,926 - anonymous, 2010

 

£107,932,603.20 - Neil Trotter from Surrey in 2014

 

£101,203,600.70 -Dave and Angela Dawes, Cambridgeshire in 2011

 

£84,451,320.60 - anonymous, 2010

 

£81,381,673.30 - anonymous, 2013

 

£73,205,659.50 - anonymous, 2014

 

£56,008,113.20 - Nigel Page, Gloucestershire, 2010

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