There’s one thing Beryl Soane doesn’t want for her birthday – a letter from the King.
As Beryl prepares to celebrate her 100th birthday on December 4 she declared she’s not fond of Queen Camilla.
“She took Charles away from Diana,” she stated.
Born in Surrey, England in 1924 her life has been one filled with adventure which she recalls with astonishing detail.
“It’s been exciting,” she said. “A life well lived.”
However, the death of her mother at the tender age of 13 rocked her and left her to fend largely for herself as her brother and sister were much older and her father was disinterested.
She won an art scholarship at 13 but couldn’t afford to complete the education and when her father was taken to hospital, she found herself at home alone with no food or money.
“I thought, ‘what can I do, I’ll get a job’,” she recalled.
And so, she began working in factories, walking five miles a day.
Later she became a nanny and while walking down a country road after work one day a train filled with soldiers returning from Dunkirk passed by.
“They normally whistle and call, but these didn’t, they were exhausted. They’d had nothing to eat or drink for two days,” she said.
“I thought I must do something about this war, I can’t just look after children.”
She went to the local council offices and volunteered for the Royal Navy.
At 17 as a WREN, Beryl was sent to Ceylon working for Royal Naval Intelligence intercepting Japanese messages until the end of WWII.
While there she caught the eye of a “tall, dark and handsome” Royal Airforce soldier called Kenneth.
Despite Beryl’s protests that she wasn’t interested, Kenneth invited her to the cinema and a romance that would carry them into their 80s blossomed.
The young couple married just a short time later on May 5, 1945, in Ceylon and this marked the end of Beryl’s time in the navy.
They later moved to Durban in South Africa and started a successful wholesale stationary business and raised two daughters and a son.
Life in South Africa was not always easy going for a young woman, Beryl recalled one occasion when she became very ill and later found out she was being poisoned by a servant who was a witch doctor.
They had homes in England, South Africa and Australia and travelled extensively around the world.
In 1983 they decided to leave South Africa and moved to Australia, joining daughter Ann Allen and her family.
“We loved Australia,” Beryl said.
However, England remained in their hearts, and they returned to live there until Ann brought her parents back to live on the Gold Coast in 2004.
Kenneth died in 2006 and for the last 18 months Beryl has been living in Roslyn Lodge, close to Ann.
For her birthday Beryl will be queen for the day, donning her favourite pearl necklace, which reminds her of her mother, and celebrating with her children, many of her eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren who will travel from America for the occasion.
And when asked the secret to her longevity she said chocolate, a sense of humour and daily vitamins.
