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Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person

The British supercentenarian celebrated her birthday on Friday, August 21.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
King Charles III meeting Ethel Caterham in 2025 <i>(Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)</i>

What this story says

  • Ethel Caterham celebrated her 117th birthday on Friday, August 21.
  • She became the world's oldest person in April 2025.
  • Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire.
  • She met King Charles III in September 2025.

Who covered it

Left 21%(18)Centre 57%(50)Right 22%(19)

Percentages are shares of the 87 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 60 of the 147 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

60/100

Craft

60/100

Hype

20/100

147 sources · methodology

Missing from the right

Only 19 of the 87 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Ethel Caterham celebrated her 117th birthday on Friday, August 21. She was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, and became the world's oldest person in April 2025. Caterham has lived through two World Wars, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Russian Revolution. She also survived Covid-19 in 2020 at the age of 110.

Caterham met King Charles III in September 2025, shortly after her 116th birthday. During their meeting, she recalled his 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales. She married Norman Caterham in 1933, and he died in 1976. The couple had two daughters, both of whom died before her. Caterham lived in Gibraltar and Hong Kong, where she established a nursery school. She drove until she was 97 and played contract bridge into her hundreds.

Disagreement on birth year

The Salisbury Journal states Ethel Caterham was born on August 21, 1909. Nigerian News states she was born on August 21, 1909. Deník.cz states she was born on August 21, 1909. The other reports do not specify a birth year.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention Caterham's marriage at Salisbury Cathedral. None of the right-rated digests mention her meeting with King Charles III.

Coverage settled. We checked this 8 times and stopped on 27 Aug 2026, 16:45. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person
Dnevni list DanasLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

18 rated outlets

  • The left-rated outlets reported that Ethel Caterham turned 117 on 16 August. They stated she was born in 1909, three years before the Titanic sank. She is the world's oldest living person, having received the title in spring 2025.
  • DR and Dnevni list Danas reported that Caterham lived in Surrey and previously lived in Hong Kong with her late husband, Norman, an army officer. They had two daughters who have since died. She also survived Covid-19 at age 110.
  • Punch Newspapers and The Independent highlighted that Caterham is the first Briton to reach 117. Several outlets noted King Charles III visited her in September 2025, when she recalled his 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales.

Centre

50 rated outlets

  • The centre-rated Salisbury Journal led with Caterham's 117th birthday and her marriage at Salisbury Cathedral. It included details of her life, including her marriage in 1933, her husband's army postings, and her time living in Gibraltar and Hong Kong. The report also featured a quote from Caterham about meeting King Charles and stroking a llama, and recalled her meeting with the King in September 2025.

Right

19 rated outlets

  • De Telegraaf, the right-rated outlet, focused on Caterham celebrating her 117th birthday and included a quote from her stating, 'I'm already looking forward to the next party.' It noted that she is the oldest living person and the first Briton to reach this age, according to Guinness World Records.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person?
Of the 87 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 21% are rated left, 57% are rated centre, 22% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 147. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 87 rated outlets on this story, 21% are rated left, 57% are rated centre, 22% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person biased?
Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person is one event reported by 147 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person?
147 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
When was Ethel Caterham born?
Ethel Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire. This makes her 117 years old as of her birthday on Friday, August 21.
When did Ethel Caterham become the world's oldest person?
Ethel Caterham became the world's oldest person in April 2025. This was following the death of the previous record holder, Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was 116.
Has Ethel Caterham met any members of the Royal Family?
Yes, Ethel Caterham met King Charles III in September 2025, shortly after her 116th birthday. She held his hand during the meeting and recalled his 1969 investiture as Prince of Wales.

Read it at the source

148 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

18
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Centre

50
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Right

20
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Not rated

60
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How did this read?

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Ethel Caterham turns 117, world's oldest person | MediaBias News