The oldest currently living person in the world celebrated their 117th birthday

British woman Ethel Caterham, considered the oldest living person in the world, celebrated her 117th birthday on August 21. She marked the milestone at the Hallmark Lakeview care home in Surrey, surrounded by relatives and friends.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to Sky News, Caterham described the past year as a time of "many firsts." Among them was a meeting with King Charles III of the United Kingdom, during which the supercentenarian even held the monarch's hand. "I look forward to what the next year brings," she said.

Ethel Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in Hampshire and was the second youngest child in a family of eight children. She is the last living subject of King Edward VII, who died in 1910. During her lifetime, the British throne has also been occupied by George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II, and Charles III.

In her youth, Caterham lived and worked in India, and after marriage, she and her husband, a British Army officer, moved first to Gibraltar and then to Hong Kong. There she opened a kindergarten. The couple had two daughters, but both of them died before their mother.

Caterham received the status of the oldest living person in the world in April 2025 following the death of 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas. Her age has been verified by longevity research specialists.

However, the British woman has not yet come close to the absolute longevity record. It belongs to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122 years and 164 days old and died in 1997.