Prince William apologizes to 109-year-old woman for the Queen's birthday card

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-14 14:21

A 109-year-old woman, who complained when she received the same birthday card from the Queen for a fifth year in succession, received an apology in person from Prince William.

Prince William apologizes to 109-year-old woman for the Queen's birthday card

Prince William visited 109 year-old Catherine Masters after she complained about the birthday cards she had received from the Queen. [Agencies]

When Catherine Masters, one of the oldest women in the country, noticed that the Queen was wearing the same yellow dress in the last five of the nine cards, she wrote to complain to Buckingham Palace.

Neither she or staff at the Grange Care Centre in Stanford in the Vale in Oxfordshire thought much more of it until a telephone call came from St James's Palace.

Only five minutes later a casually dressed Prince William, flanked by his protection officers, was at the home and talking recipes for shepherd's pie with Mrs Masters.

The woman, who was born in 1899 when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, said she told the future King his grandmother should wear some new outfits for the cards.

She said: "I told him I would like the Queen to have a new dress because the one she wears has been the same. I think either a blue or white one would be nice. We talked about a lot of other things as well. "He told me he liked making shepherd's pie and said he used a masher to mash the potatoes, but I told him he was doing it wrong – he should use a fork to fluff the potatoes."

The pair shared tea, scones and eclairs during the surprise meeting which was set up by Ed Vaizey, the local Tory MP, after a request from nursing staff at the home.

Wendy Mead, a senior nurse manager at the care home, said: "We received a call and within five minutes, Prince William had arrived. There were bodyguards everywhere. He stayed for about 40 minutes talking to Catherine about her past and history. It was fabulous.

"I received a letter saying Buckingham Palace could not arrange anything. I wrote to Ed Vaizey who organised the whole thing."

Mrs Masters has now been invited to a garden party with The Queen at Buckingham Palace on July 7. The pensioner, who has lived at the home for three years, has been married twice and had one son. She has two grandsons and three great grandchildren.