King Charles III smiled when he met Ethel Caterham, the world’s oldest person aged 116, right after saying goodbye to US President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, the 76-year-old monarch met with the elderly at her care home in Lightwater, Surrey.
After the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas in April, she became the oldest living person at the age of 116.
When the King got to the visit, he took Mrs. Caterham’s hand and said hello.
Mrs. Caterham, who was wearing sequined shoes with gold fur lining, a patterned sage dress, and a light pink shawl, informed him she remembered when Queen Elizabeth crowned him at Caernarfon Castle.
The King was happy that she remembered his investiture as the Prince of Wales in 1969, when he was 21. She then said, “And all the girls wanted to marry you.”
The King laughed out loud at the comment, and one of the old woman’s granddaughters, Kate Henderson, said, “You were saying that the other day, weren’t you?”
“You said, “Prince Charles was so good-looking.” He was loved by all the girls. A real prince, and now he’s the King.
King Charles III smiled when he met 116-year-old Ethel Caterham, the oldest person in the world (see picture), right after saying goodbye to US President Donald Trump.
Mrs. Caterham (in the picture) became the oldest living person in April after the death of Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun, at 116.
After the death of Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun, at the age of 116, Mrs. Caterham (in the image) became the oldest living person.
Charles, who made a funny face in response, said, “Yes, well, that’s all that’s left of him anyway.”
Mrs. Caterham preferred to celebrate her most recent birthday privately with just her family. However, it was later revealed that she would have made an exception for the King.
A few weeks later, the king did what he had to do and went to visit her in person.
Charles and Mrs. Caterham also talked about her wonderful memories of a garden party at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s.
There was a birthday card from Charles and Camilla on the table between the seats, as well as one from the late Queen Elizabeth II and a framed, signed letter from the King greeting Mrs. Caterham on her 116th birthday.
Since she became 100, the King and the late Queen Elizabeth II have sent her seventeen cards to celebrate her birthdays, including one for her 100th birthday.
In 2023, Mrs. Caterham was on the official Instagram account of the monarchy. She was shown getting a card from the King for her 114th birthday. She was with her three granddaughters, Kate, Julia Pauling, and Lucy Robinson.
Mrs. Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, five years before the First World War began. She was the second youngest of eight children.
She is the last person who knew Edward VII, who died in May 1910.
When she was 18, she went to India and worked as an au pair for a military family until she was 21.
In 1931, she met her husband, Norman, who was a lieutenant colonel in the British Army and died in 1976, during a dinner party in the UK.
The pair lived in Salisbury before moving to Gibraltar and Hong Kong.
While living in Hong Kong, Mrs. Caterham started a nursery school and raised two daughters, both of whom died before her. Gladys, one of her sisters, lived to be 104.
Mrs. Caterham drove until she was 97 years old and liked to play contract bridge in her 100s. In 2020, when she was 110 years old, she survived Covid.
Guinness World Records says that the oldest person ever was Jeanne Calment from France, who lived to be 122 years and 164 days old.
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