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Ethel Caterham, the world’s oldest living person, celebrated her 117th birthday on Friday surrounded by family members and friends at her care home in Surrey, according to a BBC report.
Caterham, who lives at Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Lightwater, marked the milestone in a festive atmosphere, becoming one of the very few people in history to reach the age of 117.
She was recognised as the world’s oldest living person in April this year following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas at the age of 116.
Born in 1909, three years before the sinking of the Titanic and eight years before the Russian Revolution, Caterham has lived through two World Wars and witnessed some of the most significant events of the modern era.
According to Guinness World Records, she was among the oldest known survivors of Covid-19 after recovering from the virus in 2020 at the age of 110.
Born in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, as the seventh of eight siblings, Caterham grew up in Tidworth, Wiltshire. She is also believed to be the last living person born during the reign of King Edward VII.
At the age of 19, she travelled to India in 1927, where she worked as a nanny and housekeeper for a military family. She later met British Army Lieutenant Colonel Norman Caterham at a dinner in Britain in 1931, and the couple married soon afterwards.
They had two daughters, both of whom predeceased her. Her husband Norman died in 1976. Her sister Gladys also enjoyed a long life, living to the age of 104.
Known for her independence, Caterham continued driving until she was 97 years old. Last September, shortly after her 116th birthday, she received a visit from King Charles III.
During their meeting, she recalled Charles’s 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales and jokingly told the King that “all the girls were in love with you and wanted to marry you.”
Despite her remarkable longevity, the record for the oldest verified person in history remains with Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.
Caterham’s 117th birthday has once again drawn global attention to her extraordinary life, which spans more than a century of social, political and technological transformation.