A 100-year-old woman has described feeling tearful after receiving a birthday telegram from the Queen the day after the monarch's death. Gwendolyn Hoare read out the telegram, in audio recorded by the family and given to the BBC, and described it as an "honour".
She said it had made her "feel quite tearful" and laughed as she added: "I'm a royalist... old fashioned."
The Queen traditionally sent telegrams to all those who reached their 100th birthday. Many people would look forward to receiving one as part of their celebrations in reaching the landmark. They would become cherished mementoes of the achievement.
Her niece, Sue Beckett from Essex, wrote on the BBC tributes to the Queen online page: "My Aunt, Gwendolyn Betty Hoare, is 100 today (September 10). For decades she talked about receiving a telegram from the Queen and was devastated to hear the news... but her telegram arrived (on Friday) and she was ecstatic."
