Ethel Caterham, a British woman recognised as the world’s oldest person, marked her 116th birthday on Thursday, months after inheriting the title following the death of Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas.
Caterham, who was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, southwest England, was expected to spend the day quietly with her family. Her care home in Surrey said she would celebrate “at her own pace.”
The recognition makes her the world’s oldest person according to the US-based Gerontological Research Group and the LongeviQuest database.
She assumed the title after Canabarro’s passing in April at the same age of 116.
The record for the oldest person ever remains with Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days before her death in 1997, Guinness World Records notes.
“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,” her care home in Surrey, south of London, said in a statement, adding that she would not be giving interviews.
“The king (Charles III) may be her one concession, understandably,” it added.
Caterham, a great-grandmother, is the last surviving subject of King Edward VII. Last year, she received a letter from King Charles congratulating her on her 115th birthday, describing it as a “truly remarkable milestone.”
Her husband, Norman, died in 1976, and she has also outlived her two daughters. She is survived by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Her recipe for longevity, she once revealed, is simple: “Never arguing with anyone! I listen and I do what I like.”
Remarkably, she stopped driving only just before turning 100 and continued playing bridge well into her later years. In 2020, at the age of 110, she survived Covid-19.
That same year, she told the BBC she had “taken everything in my stride, the highs and lows.”
The title of the world’s oldest man was briefly held last year by Briton John Tinniswood, who died in November aged 112, after eight months in the position.
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