Charlotte Hughes

Biography Born in Hartlepool, she lived under the rule of six monarchs and 24 UK Prime Ministers. Hughes grew up in Middlesbrough in Yorkshire, where her father ran a music shop. and married Noel Hughes, a retired army captain, after she retired aged 63. They remained married until his death in 1979 at the age of 88. Her father, Herbert Milburn, died at age 93, while her mother, Annie, died at 92. She had three younger brothers, all of whom pre-deceased her.

She remained in good health into extreme old age and achieved public recognition for her longevity, including tea with then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in 1985, whom she jokingly admonished against cuddling up to her, as Hughes was a Labour Party supporter. Thatcher replied by saying "Oh well, never mind, let's have a cup of tea." However, Hughes admitted to personally liking Thatcher, and she described the Prime Minister as "a very nice woman." She stayed at The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for four days, on an all-expenses-paid visit, and met then-Mayor Ed Koch.

Hughes became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom when Kate Begbie of Scotland died in 1988, and she broke the national longevity record, held until then by Anna Eliza Williams, in early 1992.