2026-08-21 13:21:00
The world’s oldest person is celebrating her 117th birthday after a year in which she met King Charles and stroked a llama.
Ethel Caterham, who lives at Hallmark Lakeview Care Home in Lightwater, Surrey, is marking the milestone with family and friends on Friday (21.08.26).
In a statement, she said: “Thank you for all of the kind birthday wishes. Even at 117, I’ve had many firsts this year, from stroking a llama to holding hands with the King.
“I’ve had a lovely day celebrating with my family and friends, and I look forward to seeing what next year brings.”
Caterham became the world’s oldest living person in April 2025, following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas at the age of 116.
Just weeks after her 116th birthday, she was visited by the King, who held her hand as he introduced himself.
During their meeting, Mrs Caterham recalled attending the future monarch’s 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales, when he was 21.
She cheekily told him: “All the girls were in love with you and wanted to marry you.”
Born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Caterham was the second-youngest of eight siblings and is the last surviving subject of Edward VII, who died in 1910.
At 18, she travelled to India, where she worked as an au pair for a military family.
She later met her husband, Norman, a British Army lieutenant colonel, at a dinner party in 1931.
The couple lived in Salisbury before moving with his postings to Gibraltar and Hong Kong.
Caterham established a nursery school in Hong Kong and raised two daughters, both of whom died before her.
Norman died in 1976.
Her extraordinary longevity has run in the family as her sister Gladys lived to the age of 104.
Caterham continued driving until she was 97 and played contract bridge well into her centenarian years.
She also survived COVID-19 in 2020, aged 110.
Despite reaching 117, she still has some way to go to claim the record for the oldest person ever.
That title belongs to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
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