A 'TRUE royalist' from Kidderminster had her 100th birthday wish granted when she received a card from the Queen.

Irene May Payton, known as Rene to her friends, celebrated the milestone birthday on Wednesday (December 4) with a tea party at Minster Grange care home in Stourport, where she has lived for two years.

Rene was born in Walsall in 1919. Her mother Rose died when she was very young and her father Fred remarried, so as soon as she was old enough Rene moved to Findon Street in Kidderminster to live with her Aunt Alice.

Over the years, Rene had several jobs at various local retailers including Sankeys, Beards Electricals, Butler Brothers and Fine Fare.

Rene remains well-known in the area and will always stop and chat to passersby while out and about.

During the war, she worked at the 25MU RAF maintenance unit and later met Gerry, who she married in 1940.

The pair would go dancing together and won many medals.

Tragically, Gerry passed away following an industrial accident in 1971 and Rene, having lived in Birchen Coppice with her family for many years, moved to Areley Kings, where she cared for her husband's mother for several years.

In 1994, Rene moved across the river to a flat in Minster Court, Stourport, and then following a fall in 2017, moved into Minster Grange where she is well-cared for by a team of carers.

Rene and Gerry had two children, Sandra and Michael. Sandra sadly passed away in 2006.

She has two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Rene remains a true royalist and loves anything royal family-related. She has been reminding her granddaughter for several years to write to the Queen when she reaches 100 and was delighted to finally receive her royal birthday card this week.

Granddaughter Alison Langdon said: "She still reads the newspaper from cover to cover every day and is always ready for a good catch up with friends and family and a good natter - and she has a wicked sense of humour!"