The world’s eldest person, British woman Ethel Caterham, celebrated her 116th birthday today (21 August), several months after the title passed to her following the death of Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas.
Caterham was to mark the occasion quietly with her family, taking the day “at her own pace”, according to the care home where she resides.
The title of eldest person ever recorded remains with French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days before her death in 1997, according to Guinness World Records.
Caterham was born on 21 August 1909 in the village of Shipton Bellinger in south-western England, five years before the commencement of the Great War.
She is now recognised as the world’s oldest person according to the American-based Gerontological Research Group (GRG) and the LongeviQuest database, following the death of 116-year-old Canabarro in April.
“Mrs Caterham and her family are tremendously grateful for all 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 granting interviews.
“His Majesty the King may be her one concession, understandably,” the statement added.
The great-grandmother is the last living subject of King Edward VII, having been born during his reign.
She celebrated her 115th birthday last year with a personal letter from His Majesty King Charles III, who congratulated her upon reaching such a “truly remarkable milestone”.
Her secret to longevity? “Never arguing with anyone! I listen and I do what I like,” she has previously stated.
She has three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, having outlived both her daughters and her husband Norman, who died in 1976.
Caterham only ceased driving when she was just short of 100 years of age, and played bridge well into her advanced years.
She even survived a bout of Covid-19 at the age of 110 in 2020, according to The Daily Telegraph.
That same year, she told the BBC that throughout her life, she had “taken everything in my stride, the highs and lows”.
Briton John Tinniswood held the title of world’s oldest man for eight months in 2024 until his death in November at the age of 112.
