They thought Maud Coleman was in pretty good shape for 93.
Then amazed staff at Runwell Hospital, Wickford, discovered she was really seven years older.
Ward key worker Vania Hutchins said: "She's wonderful for 100."
Maud, who worked in the kitchens of the Palace Hotel, Southend, with her late husband, was admitted to the hospital in 1968, first for assessment and then for long-stay care.
At the time, the hospital was given incorrect information, and seven years was wrongly knocked off her age.
However, the truth recently came to light. Vania said: "The department of social services wrote to the welfare department over arrangements for the card to come from the Queen, and we got a phone call.
"They had the records, but we had been given the wrong information when she was admitted."
Birthday honour - Maud received a card from the Queen
Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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