World’s oldest person celebrates 117th birthday after a year of ‘many firsts’

The world’s oldest living person is celebrating her 117th birthday today, following a remarkable year that included meeting King Charles III and holding his hand.

Ethel Caterham, who lives at Hallmark Lakeview Care Home in Lightwater, Surrey, is spending her milestone birthday with family and friends. Born on 21 August 1909, she is recognised by Guinness World Records as both the world’s oldest living person and oldest living woman.

Reflecting on her birthday, Mrs Caterham said the past year had brought a number of new experiences, including stroking a llama and meeting the King. She said she had enjoyed celebrating with those closest to her and was already looking forward to what the next year might bring.

One of the highlights came in September 2025, when King Charles visited Mrs Caterham shortly after her 116th birthday. During their meeting, the pair held hands and Mrs Caterham recalled watching his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969. She joked that at the time, all the girls had been in love with him and wanted to marry him.

Mrs Caterham was born in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, when Edward VII was King and five years before the outbreak of the First World War. The second youngest of eight siblings, longevity also runs in her family, with one of her sisters living to the age of 104.

In her younger years, Mrs Caterham travelled to India, where she worked as an au pair, and later worked as a nanny and ran a nursery. She married her husband Norman and the couple had two daughters. She is now a grandmother of three and great-grandmother of five.

She became the world’s oldest living person in 2025 following the death of Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas at the age of 116. Despite her extraordinary age, Mrs Caterham has previously offered a remarkably straightforward explanation for her longevity: avoiding arguments, listening to others and ultimately doing what she likes.

Her 117th birthday places her among an exceptionally small group of people to have reached the milestone, although the verified record for the longest human lifespan remains with France’s Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days.

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