King Charles III: Welsh woman turns 100 on Coronation day

Audrey celebrated her birthday with her children and the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan (right)

A woman who has lived through the reigns of five monarchs is celebrating her 100th birthday on the day King Charles III is crowned.

Audrey Biggs, from St Hilary, Vale of Glamorgan, said she was surprised when she heard the date of the Coronation.

She said: "It's rather nice to think I'm sharing it".

She was visited by The King's representative, the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan Morfudd Meredith, while celebrating with a cream tea.

Audrey said: "I can't believe I've reached 100 years old. I'm awfully lucky, I have a wonderful family."

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Regarding the King, who was born in 1948, she said: "I think he's a good man, a very sincere man. I think he's going to have a lot of support from Camilla. They seem very well suited together, don't they and happy, and that will help him a lot.

"He's a rather sensitive sort of a man. He'll be anxious to make a good job of it, which he will I'm sure."

Audrey has seen the coronations of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II

Audrey's earliest royal memory was in 1935, when she was 12, as King George V's silver jubilee was marked.

She and other schoolchildren were given a book to mark the event.

But the King died less than a year later and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward VIII, but his reign was short and filled with drama.

In December 1936, he abdicated to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson.

Audrey, who was 13 at the time, said: "I think everyone was ever so shocked, to have an abdication, it was unheard of."

Edward VIII's brother Albert was then catapulted into kingship as George VI.

Soon after, Britain was at war with Germany and Audrey was working for photo processing company Kodak on the outskirts of London.

The scientists she worked with were developing photographic technology helping the RAF take aerial photographs of German military targets.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stood in debris after Buckingham Palace was bombed in World War Two

Television was in its infancy in the days before World War Two and the conflict stalled its progress, but once Germany was defeated, the momentum once again began to build.

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953 was the perfect opportunity for this fledging medium.

But initial requests to broadcast the event live were rebuffed by the Palace and the government as there were concerns that some disrespectful people might watch the ceremony in pubs and the mystique of the monarchy might be lost.

There was a nervousness too that any mistakes or errors in the long ceremony could reflect badly on the Queen, just 26 at the time.

But after months of discussions between Buckingham Palace, the government and the BBC came the news that the Queen would be crowned live on television.

For Audrey and her family, this was the perfect opportunity to buy one of the new devices.

"Yes, we bought a television specially to watch the Queen's coronation. Some of the neighbours came in. It was quite a thing to have a television."

Audrey was one of a million people who bought sets - the first major royal event to be televised live.

She will watch the UK's first coronation for 70 years at the care home where she lives, close to her son and daughter.

And a royal birthday card should have been delivered that morning.

"It'll be something lovely to look forward to."