Clayhall grandmother celebrates 90th birthday after missing out on Buckingham Palace party
Audrey Tubb celebrated her 90th birthday with her neighbours on Sunday - Credit: Archant
A woman was delighted when she was invited to a luncheon at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday – which fell just nine days before her own on Sunday.
Audrey and George Tubb are born the same years as the Queen and Prince Philip - Credit: Archant
So when health issues prevented her from attending the royal event, neighbours rallied round to make sure Audrey’s 90th was just as special.
Audrey Tubb, who lives in Clayhall with husband George – born the same year as Prince Philip – said she was “disappointed” to have to turn down the royal invitation because of health issues.
Suffering from a degenerative disease, she finds it increasingly difficult to travel and is recovering from a short stay in hospital.
On Sunday, neighbours and friends threw her a birthday party at her home with a cake, champagne and sherry.
“It was a lovely day,” said Audrey, adding that she kept a picture of the Queen Mother on her mantelpiece.
“I would love to meet the Queen, but I think I am too old for it. But I am very proud of being the same age as her.”
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George, 94, who was born in 1921, served on a destroyer ship in the far east during the Second World War – like the Duke of Edinburgh.
“I admire the Queen,” he said.
“She is a wonderful woman and works hard. I appreciate what she has done for this country.”
The couple, who have been married for 70 years, met at a dance hall in Wallsend, near Newcastle, in 1943, when Mrs Tubb was 17.
At the time, she was doing night work in a shipyard, making blades for the navy.
Once the war was over, the couple married in 1946 – a year before the Queen and Prince Philip – when Mrs Tubb was 20.
George went on to work at Whipps Cross hospital, Leytonstone, and London Transport.
Parents of two and grandparents of four, the pair were the original owners of their house in Clayhall, built shortly after the war.
Varsha Joshi, 45, who has lived next door to the Tubbs for 16 years and organised the party, said: “I would have not let the day go by without celebrating.”
On September 16, Mr Tubb will turn 95 and neighbours are already planning to celebrate with more cake, balloons and champagne.
