Mary Marshall celebrates her 100th birthday in Uralla

The proud royalist and mother of nine children, 36 grandchildren, 78 great-grandchildren and 22 great-great-grandchildren, some she is still yet to meet, celebrated her 100th birthday in Uralla on Tuesday.

Letters for centenarians were suspended for a few weeks following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, to allow for her funeral and the creation of new designs on the cards.

Mary said she was very upset when the Queen, about four years her junior, died.

Australians who turn 100 are expected to start receiving their signed letters from King Charles III after a backlog of UK citizens is first catered for.

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In the meantime, Mary was more than happy with the company on her birthday, even receiving a surprise visit from Uralla Mayor Robert Bell who presented her with a bouquet of flowers and certificates from the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor-General David Hurley, federal MP Barnaby Joyce, state MP Adam Marshall and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Asked what is her secret to longevity, and she says: "Don't smoke and don't drink".

Mary was mostly speaking with assistance from her sister Lyn Poulter over speakerphone on her way home to McMaugh Gardens aged care facility, after an afternoon sipping a birthday caramel milkshake at the popular Alternate Root Cafe.

Mary and three of her four daughters shared good memories and reminisced about how she had survived being swarmed by bees as a child, hit by a car in the 1980s and even cancer.

The centenarian is also keen to point out that she has seen society transition from horses to cars as the main mode of transport. And witnessed man's first steps on the moon, after Neil Armstrong touched down in 1969 via space rocket Apollo 11.

"And when my dad was at war (WWII) she looked after his sick elderly parents, one had dementia and the other had cancer," Mary's daughter Lyn said.

Mary grew up in the New England area, moving between Walcha, Armidale, Laurieton and Uralla before she settled at McMaugh Gardens about eight years ago where one of her daughters, Joy Hine, also works.

Lyn said her mother "loves the staff" at McMaugh so much that she gave them digital clocks on her birthday.

They're going to hang one in the hallway and the other in the nurse's chamber "so they can see the time as a thank you for looking after her", Lyn said.

The birthday party will be overshadowed by "the real celebration" on Saturday when Mary will be chauffeur-driven in a 1938 green Chevrolet to a local football field where she will spend the day with her extended family.

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