Ethel Caterham from Surrey has become the oldest person in the world at 115 years of age after the death two days ago of Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was 116.
Caterham was born on August 21st, 1909, and is the last surviving subject of Edward VII.
Celebrating her 115th birthday in August 2024, she said that the secret to her longevity is that she never argues with anyone, listens, and does what she loves.
The new record was confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records and LongeviQuest, a database of the oldest people in the world.
On her 115th birthday, she received a letter from the King in which His Majesty wrote that he was “encouraged to learn of Ethel’s fascinating personal history.”
Caterham was born in Shipton Bellinger in Hampshire and grew up in nearby Tidworth in Wiltshire.
At the age of 18, she was employed as a nanny in a military family in India.
She returned to the United Kingdom (UK) in 1931 and met her future husband, Norman Caterham. They were married at the cathedral in Salisbury in 1933.
She has spent the last 50 years living in Surrey and drove a car until the age of 97.
One of her sisters, Gladys, lived to be 104.
