Ethel Caterham, the last surviving Edwardian and the world’s oldest living person, celebrated her 116th birthday on Thursday.
She was born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, when Herbert Asquith was prime minister, Beatrix Potter had just published The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and one of the bestselling songs was Shine on Harvest Moon.
Caterham is the last surviving subject of Edward VII, who died on 6 May 1910. She was born five years before the start of the first world war, the second youngest of eight siblings.
The Edwardian era was described by the American writer Samuel Hynes as a “leisurely time when women wore picture hats and did not vote, when the rich were not ashamed to live conspicuously, and the sun never set on the British flag”.
Caterham became the oldest living person in April after the death of Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun, at 116.
She told the BBC in 2020 that she took “everything in my stride, the highs and lows”. She said: “I listen and I do what I like.”
She will celebrate her birthday at the care home in Lightwater, Surrey, where she lives and will take the day “at her own pace” surrounded by her family.
She has been a widow for almost half a century after the death of her husband, Norman, in 1976. According to the Gerontology Research Group, she met Norman, a major in the British army, at a dinner party in 1931. They were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar and had two children.
A spokesperson for her care home said: “Ethel and her family are so grateful for all of the kind messages and interest shown to her as she celebrates her 116th birthday this year.
“Ethel has again chosen not to give any interviews, preferring to spend the day quietly with her family so that she can enjoy it at her own pace. The king may be her one concession, understandably. Thank you again for your kind wishes on this special day.”
Last year King Charles sent Caterham a card to mark her 115th birthday.
The title of the oldest person ever is held by Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived to 122 years and 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
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