Pearly Queen enjoys a knees-up at Woodland Grove birthday party

Pearly Queen, Phyllis Broadbent, was given a proper knees-up for her 99th birthday at Woodland Grove Care Home, where she now lives.

Phyllis, from Hackney, served as the Pearly Queen of Islington for 20 years before her recent retirement at the age of 98. She celebrated with family and friends at a party in the garden.
“I was so happy to see my family as my daughter lives abroad now,” said Phyllis. “I really enjoyed the cakes, especially my birthday cake with its candles!”

Phyllis was born in London in 1927. She served in Women’s Auxiliary Force during WWII and later became a ‘Ten-Pound Pom’ after moving to Australia with husband Ernie and their four children.
She trained and worked as a mental health nurse and continued her dedication to the community by becoming a Pearly Queen when the family returned to London in the 1980s. Ernie was her Pearly King and she visited care homes, schools and hospices and raised money for charity.

“It’s been a perfect role for her because she’ll talk to anyone,” said her daughter, Anne Koerse. “She loved being a Pearly Queen. She made her own jacket and hat, sewing on hundreds of pearly buttons, and she made some for other Pearly Kings and Queens too.”

The Pearly Kings and Queens are the second-oldest charity in England, dating back to 1875. The tradition is passed on through families; Phyllis’ cousin was a Pearly Queen, and her son, Bob, was a Pearly Prince.

The caring Lifestyles Team organised a birthday cake decorated with elegant pink icing and candles and swapped the traditional East End fare of jellied eels and pie and mash for afternoon tea with sandwiches and scones served on Union Jack plates.

“Phyllis has only been with us for a couple of months, but she’s made so many friends,” said Michela Volpe, the Lifestyles Manager at Woodland Grove. “She loves a party, so we had to organise something for her, for such a landmark birthday. Other Pearly Kings and Queens were doing lots of charity work over the Bank Holiday, so they’ll come to visit her in the next couple of weeks, which we know she will love.”

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