The Queen has declined a magazine’s award of Oldie of the Year, saying “you are only as old as you feel,” the BBC reports.
The 95-year-old “politely but firmly” turned down the award, but sent the Oldie magazine a message with her “warmest best wishes.”
The nation’s longest-reigning monarch, she is due to mark her Platinum Jubilee next year after 70 years as Queen.
Her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was Oldie of the Year in 2011.
Author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, chairman of the awards, wrote to the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young, to ask if she would accept the title.
In a reply published in the magazine’s latest issue, her assistant private secretary, Tom Laing-Baker, said: “Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such The Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept, and hopes you will find a more worthy recipient.”
The Oldie of the Year Awards have celebrated the achievements of the older generation for 29 years, with previous winners including community care nurses, veteran athletes, and well-known figures such as the late actress Dame Olivia de Havilland and the artist David Hockney.
