Eileen ‘Doris’ Grace from Rushmere turned 100 on Saturday, May 6. Incredibly, this is the fifth monarch Doris has known in her lifetime.

When she was born in 1923, George V was on the throne. When Doris was 13, Edward VIII succeeded his father, and was in turn succeeded by George VI, the late Queen’s father, later that year. 

Elizabeth II took to the throne when Doris was 30 – and now, she has lived to see yet another generation of monarchy crowned. 

Doris said she did not mind sharing her special day with the new king. 

“I’ve always liked the royals,” she said. “I’ve watched them grow up.” 

Doris said that she has always liked the royal family, having watched so many of its members grow up over the years. Picture: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Doris and her twin sister were born to parents Alice Maud and Stanley Robert Pendal. The name Pendal will be familiar to many Ipswich residents, for Doris’s father owned his own coal distribution business. 

The two little girls, Eileen and Evelyn, soon became known by their nicknames, Doris and Dot. 

“They called her Dot, because she was the little one,” Doris explained. She was the elder sister by one hour, and weighed just 4½lbs to Dot’s 4lbs.  

Growing up, the girls looked so alike that even their family struggled to tell them apart.  

“Mother used to say, who’s that talking, is it Doris or Dot?” laughed Doris. 

Doris was always very close to her twin sister, Dot. Dot sadly died at the age of 89. Picture: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

The family soon swelled to seven siblings. Doris and her sister had two elder brothers, Cyril and Eric, while younger sister Phyllis and then a second set of twins, Daphne and Ivan, soon followed. 

“Mother said, there – I’ve brought you one each, so you shan’t quarrel!” said Doris. 

Life could be hard in those days, especially when Doris’s father died in 1941. However, she said she cannot ever remember any arguments in her family. “We’ve always been close,” she said. 

Doris and Dot attended school at St Matthews Primary, and then at Ranelagh Road and the Central Senior Girls School in Bolton Lane.  

After leaving school, Doris found her first job at the Footman Pretty factory, working as a sewing machinist in the underwear department.  

War was declared when Doris was 16, and she was soon sent to work in munitions at the Marconi factory in Chelmsford. Thankfully, Dot was posted there too, and so the sisters were not separated.  

They were on their way home after visiting the pictures one evening, when two handsome RAF officers began to walk with them. One was especially taken with Doris. 

“He had lovely eyes, and a strong, rugged face,” Doris remembered. The young man’s name was Sidney Grace, and he would become Doris's husband of more than 60 years.

Doris and her husband, Sidney, were married for more than 60 years. Picture: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond) Doris was thrilled to receive a special birthday card from King Charles III. Picture: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

The couple tied the knot six months before the war ended, on March 3, 1945, and returned to Ipswich. 

Doris and Sidney welcomed three daughters of their own. Valerie arrived first in 1946, then Jennifer in 1949 and then Dianne in 1959. 

Doris has since become a grandmother five times over, then a great-grandmother to Brooke and Lauren, and finally a great-great-grandmother to two-year-old Albie. 

Doris’s daughters said that their mother has always been known for her kind, giving nature. 

“If someone was struggling, or had lost a relative, Mum would always cook them a meal,” said Dianne, who has travelled all the way from America for the occasion with her husband, Joseph. “Up until six months ago, she was still baking scones for her neighbours.” 

Doris celebrated her birthday in style with a party at Burlington Baptist Church in London Road, surrounded by her family.