Britain’s oldest identical twins celebrate their 100th birthday

Britain’s oldest identical twins have celebrated their 100th birthday together.Dorothy Sivyer and Kathleen Whitehead, who call themselves ‘The Twinnies,’ were born in 1920.

The sisters moved in together during lockdown and have enjoyed spending time with one another.
Dorothy, who lived in Tunbridge Wells until recently moving to Rochester, said: 

I came up here because of the lockdown to be with my sister and now we’re both turning 100 together. It’s been nice living together during lockdown. We haven’t come to blows or anything.

I don’t mind turning 100. Nobody has got this old in our family before.

Kath added: 

We’ve had a lovely time together. It’s been good and we want to say thank you to all those people who have made our birthday so happy and nice.

Being together has kept us positive whilst staying inside and eating chocolate. We play cards together and just chat a lot.

We can’t do much about turning 100, can we? It just kind of comes, doesn’t it, I don’t really want it – I’d rather go back the other way.

Kath, the eldest twin, worked as a radar operator during WW2 while Dotty was a radiographer who treated soldiers returning from the Normandy beaches.

Despite their different personalities, the pair say they have ‘never quarrelled.’

Kath said: 

We’ve always got on very well. Never quarrelled, very close. We buy the same things and we share everything. Even when we are miles apart, we do the same things and buy the same handbags.

I bought a pair of shoes once and she bought the same in a different colour.

Dotty added: 

We’re not friends – we’re closer than that. Real sisters, real close, we are. Always have been.