Ethel Caterham, 117, marks birthday as world's oldest living person

Ethel Caterham, who turned 117 on Friday, is recognized as the world’s oldest living person after succeeding Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas in April 2025. The Surrey resident celebrated the milestone at Hallmark Lakeview Care Home in Lightwater surrounded by family and friends.

"Never arguing with anyone, I listen, and I do what I like," Caterham said when asked about the habit she believes has helped her reach the age.

She thanked well-wishers in a statement, noting that the year included unusual experiences such as handling a llama and meeting King Charles III, who visited her in September after her 116th birthday. During the royal visit, she recalled the king’s 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales.

Born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Caterham lived through the Titanic disaster, both world wars and the fall of the Berlin Wall. She worked as an au pair in India in the late 1920s, later married Lieutenant Colonel Norman Caterham, and lived in Salisbury, Gibraltar and Hong Kong, where she founded a nursery school. Both of her daughters predeceased her; a sister reached 104. She drove until age 97, played contract bridge in later life and survived Covid-19 at age 110.