Oldie of the Year: Queen Elizabeth II, 95, declines the ‘honor’!
Avya Mathur
New Delhi: British Queen Elizabeth II has politely yet firmly declined the annual Oldie of the Year title presented by a magazine, The Oldie, as she felt she failed to fulfill the relevant criteria.
The British magazine published the 95-year-old Queen’s response on Wednesday.
The Oldie of the Year award celebrates the notable contributions and achievements of senior citizens to public life.
Tom Laing-Baker, Her Majesty’s Personal Assistant Secretary, wrote to the magazine on behalf of the nonagenarian monarch. The letter declined the title and read, “Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel. The Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept and hopes you will find a more worthy recipient.”
The title ultimately went to the 90-year-old French-American actor and dancer Leslie Caron.
Previous title owners include former Prime Minister John Major, actor Olivia de Havilland, and artist David Hockney, among several Nobel Laureates, community care nurses, and veteran athletes.
Besides, former English footballer Sir Geoff Hurst, 79, won the Oldie Golden Boot of the Year, and former cook and TV presenter Delia Smith, 80, won the Truly Scrumptious Oldie award.
The late Duke of Edinburg received the Oldie of the Year title in 2011 to mark his 90th birthday. Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband who passed away in April 2021, wrote an appreciation letter to the magazine, stating, “There is nothing like it for morale to be reminded that the years are passing–ever more quickly–and that bits are beginning to drop off the ancient frame.”
The 95-year-old Duchess of Edinburg, Queen Elizabeth II, is the oldest active monarch in the Kingdom of Great Britain. She hosted a reception for global business leaders at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.
The Oldie is a 1992 British magazine launched by Richard Ingrams, which caters to the older generation and is a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrities.
