World's oldest person Ethel Caterham becomes first-ever Brit to reach age 117
The world’s oldest person Ethel Caterham (UK) has become the first-ever Brit to reach the age of 117.
Ethel, born on 21 August 1909, was named the world’s oldest woman and overall oldest person in 2025 after confirmation from experts LongeviQuest.
Since then, she’s been celebrated around the world and was even paid a special visit by King Charles III, who was keen to meet his nation’s oldest resident.
King Charles had a touching moment with the world’s oldest living person, 116-year-old Ethel Caterham, who told him that “all the girls were in love” with him when he was invested as Prince of Wales in 1969 🥹#kingcharles #royalfamily
— HELLO! Canada (@HelloCanada) September 21, 2025
📽️: @RoyalFamily pic.twitter.com/aDXMCeBHdB
And her 117th birthday today is a huge moment in history.
Ben Meyers, CEO of LongeviQuest, explained: “Her longevity is becoming truly historic, especially in terms of the UK. After becoming the first British person to reach age 116 a year ago, she is now the first British person to reach 117.
“She is consistently adding to her British longevity record, which was previously set by Charlotte Hughes who passed away in 1993.”
Ethel at age 116
He added: “Ethel is the 13th oldest person ever. Her reign as world's oldest person (1 year and 103 days as I write) is already the third longest in 11 years. She remains the last living person born before 1910.
“Simply put, she is incredible!”
We couldn’t agree more, Ben!
Although she’s now lived longer than anyone else on Earth, Ethel was once one of the babies of her family as the second youngest of eight children.
And interestingly, her sister Gladys Babilas (d. 9 March 2002) also lived an impressive amount of time, surviving to the age of 104 years and 78 days.
Ethel at age 115
Read about more of the world’s oldest residents in our Human Body section.
Ethel has lived an exciting life, moving to India at the age of 18 to work as a nanny for a British family.
Looking for adventure, she had boarded a ship on her own in 1927 and made the three-week voyage to her new life abroad.
She met her husband, Major Norman Caterham of the British Army, a few short years later in 1931, and he later rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Pay Corps.
Ethel in August 2025
Ethel and Norman tied the knot at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, and lived in the city for a while. Ethel moved abroad once more when Norman was posted to Hong Kong.
There, she set up a nursery for both local and British children.
After settling back home in Surrey, England, the couple had two daughters, Gem and Anne.
Sadly, Ethel lost Norman in 1976 and has outlived both her daughters.
She has lots of people to celebrate her today though, with three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.
Ethel lives a happy life at a care home, where the garden she treasures so dearly was named “Ethel’s Garden” in her honour.
Ethel was also wished a happy birthday by the world's oldest man João Marinho Neto (Brazil), whose family provided the below picture.
He is due to celebrate his 114th birthday in October.
More stories from our expert Ben:
- Why the world's oldest person is hardly ever a man and why women live longer
- When are we officially old? Longevity expert who studies world's oldest people explains
Images courtesy of LongeviQuest via families