King Charles paid a special visit to the world’s oldest person, Ethel Caterham, who entertained him with her memories of how “all the girls were in love with you and wanted to marry you”.
The monarch travelled to see 116-year-old Mrs Caterham at her care home in Lightwater, Surrey, on Thursday, shortly after bidding a formal farewell to US President Donald Trump at Windsor.
Mrs Caterham became the oldest living person in April after the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas at 116.
She chose to celebrate her latest birthday in August quietly with just her family – but it was revealed at the time that she would have made a concession for the King. The monarch duly obliged just a few weeks later by travelling to see her in person. Charles held Mrs Caterham’s hand at the start as he introduced himself.
Then, sitting in an armchair next to Mrs Caterham, who was wearing gold fur-lined sequined slippers, a patterned sage dress and a pale pink shawl, the King listened intently as she told him: “I remember when your mother crowned you in Caernarfon Castle.”
The King expressed delight at her recollection of his 1969 investiture as the Prince of Wales when he was 21, saying “oh yes” and adding to others in the room: “You see, fascinating.”
Mrs Caterham continued: “And all the girls were in love with you and wanted to marry you.”
The remark prompted a hearty laugh from the King and a raise of his eyebrows.
One of Mrs Caterham’s granddaughters, Kate Henderson, added: “You were saying that the other day, weren’t you?
“You said ‘Prince Charles was so handsome. All the girls were in love with him’. A true prince – and now the King.”
Charles, who responded with a playful grimace, quipped: “Yes well, all that’s left of him anyway.”
The pair also spoke about Mrs Caterham’s fond memories of a Buckingham Palace garden party she attended in the 1960s.
On the table between the chairs was a previous birthday card from Charles and Camilla, one from the late Queen Elizabeth II, and a framed, signed letter from the King congratulating Mrs Caterham on her 116th birthday and becoming the world’s oldest living person.
The cards were just some of the 17 she has received from both the King and the late Queen Elizabeth II to mark her birthdays since turning 100, including the one marking her centenary.
In 2023, Mrs Caterham featured on the monarchy’s official Instagram when she was filmed receiving a card from the King in the post to mark her 114th birthday.
She was joined by three granddaughters, Kate, Julia Pauling and Lucy Robinson.
Mrs Caterham was born on August 21 in 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, five years before the start of the First World War, as the second youngest of eight siblings.
She is the last surviving subject of Edward VII, who died in May 1910.
In 1927, aged 18 she travelled to India and worked as an au pair to a military family until she was 21.
She met her husband, Norman, who was a lieutenant colonel in the British Army and died in 1976, at a dinner party in the UK in 1931.
They lived in Salisbury before being stationed in Gibraltar and Hong Kong and Mrs Caterham set up a nursery school while in Hong Kong and raised two daughters, both of whom died before her.
One of her sisters, Gladys, lived to be 104.
Mrs Caterham drove until she was 97 and enjoyed playing contract bridge in her centenarian years. She survived Covid in 2020 aged 110.
The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
