Brit who is world's oldest living person turns 116
The world's oldest living person is celebrating her 116th birthday.
Ethel Caterham, who resides in a care home in Lightwater, Surrey, became the UK's oldest living individual in April, following the passing of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canbarro Lucas at the age of 116. Born on 21 August 1909, Mrs. Caterham is the last remaining subject of King Edward VII. King Charles III sent her a card to commemorate her 115th birthday in 2024.
Mrs. Caterham was born three years before the Titanic disaster and lived through two World Wars. She was the second youngest of eight children, born in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, and raised in Tidworth, Wiltshire. As a young woman, she worked as an au pair in India and later lived in Hong Kong and Gibraltar with her husband, Norman, an army lieutenant colonel.
Her care home posted on X, "Ethel and her family are so grateful for all of the kind messages and concern she has received as she commemorates her 116th birthday this year." The message continued, "Ethel will spend the day with her family so she can enjoy it at her own pace. On this special day, thank you once more for your kind wishes."
The oldest person to have ever lived, whose age has been officially verified, was Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.
