World’s Oldest Person Shares Her Longevity Secrets

Courtesy of the family The world’s oldest person has celebrated her 117th birthday after a life spanning two world wars, the sinking of the Titanic, and six British monarchs.

Ethel Caterham marked the milestone Friday surrounded by family and friends at her care home in Surrey, England.

Caterham enjoyed afternoon tea with relatives and fellow residents.

A Frank Sinatra tribute singer performed her favorite song, “Three Coins in a Fountain.” “I’ve had a lovely day celebrating with my family and friends, and I look forward to seeing what next year brings,” she told the UK’s PA Media.

Born Ethel May Collins on Aug.

21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, she was the seventh of eight children.

Caterham grew up in a home without electricity or running water.

She was born in the final year of King Edward VII’s reign and is now believed to be his last surviving subject.

Caterham was 5 years old when World War I began.

She has lived through the Russian Revolution, World War II, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

She even survived COVID herself after contracting the virus in 2020 at the age of 110.

At 18, Caterham boarded a ship alone and spent three weeks traveling to India, working as a nanny for a British military family.

She returned to England three years later and met her future husband, British Army officer Norman Caterham, at a dinner party in 1931.

The couple had two daughters, Ethel and Ann, whom Caterham would eventually outlive.