Newbury’s oldest resident celebrates 107th birthday with a card from King Charles III and Queen Camilla

Newbury’s oldest resident has spent a day with her family to celebrate her 107th birthday.

And among the cards proudly displayed around Ruth Saunders’ home is one from the King and Queen to mark her special day on Sunday.

Mrs Saunders hit the headlines during lockdown when she raised more than £50,000 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance by walking 104 laps – her age at the time – around the roads near her home.

Mrs Saunders was honoured with an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours in 2021 and a Point of Light award from then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

This year she said she celebrated by tidying up before heading out for lunch with eight of her family members.

“It was a lovely weekend,” she added. “I had a lot of cards, from Spain, Canada and France and I put them all to one side and opened the one from the King first.

“I really felt that one was beautiful and I was over the moon to get the card.”

Mrs Saunders, who was born in Shaw in 1916 and has lived in the Newbury and Reading areas all her life, now has cards from a King and a Queen, having received greetings from the King’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on her 100th and 105th birthdays.

She said she was delighted to now have “one of each”.

Mrs Saunders, who has three sons, two daughter-in-laws, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, added that she spent Sunday morning at the Quakers, which she has belonged to since she first went with husband Charles, in 1952.

She was delighted to be presented with a bunch of roses by those there.

Granddaughter Alison, who was visiting with Ruth’s six-year-old great-granddaughter Zoe from France, said her earliest memories of her nan were in the garden where she spent most of the weekend celebrating with her.

Zoe told the story of how she took her first steps while her mother was speaking to Mrs Saunders on the phone.

Alison added: “I have challenged nan to walk another marathon.”

And Mrs Saunders said she hasn’t ruled it out.