TODAY millions of well-wishers raise a glass to Britain's favourite grandmother but none will probably wear a smile quite so wide -- or indeed as proud -- as Elsie Irene Miles.

Elsie, known to her pals as Rene, has spent her life one day ahead of the Queen Mother and yesterday beat her to her 100th birthday by just 24 hours.

Their lives may have been a world apart but in character similarities shine through.

Rene's daughter describes her as "very bright and sharp."

"She is a lovely lady and very forthright in her views," said Wendy Hodges, at Hazeldene Nursing Home, in Clayton-le-Dale where Rene marked her 100th birthday with a party as the Queen Mother was toasted at Buckingham Palace.

"Rene has always made sure people know her birthday was one day ahead of the Queen Mother's," said Rene's niece and only surviving family member Dorothy Russell, of Whalley New Road, Langho. "Most of her life she has always said 'If I get to 100 I would have beaten her by one day.' Rene was always proud of that and looked forward to it. Now she has done it."

Like the Queen Mother Rene has touched and demanded respect from those who have met and known her. Born in Canada on August 3 1900 Rene moved to England with her English parents Alfred and Louisa, older sister Lily and older brother Clifton, when she was just two.

Her mother died when Rene was just 12 and she and sister Lily, 23, moved away from their father. In 1923 she moved to Manchester landing a job as a secretary for a solicitors. In 1941 Rene married Evelyn Miles, a gardener whom she had met years earlier. "Evelyn had been badly gassed and Rene spent 15 years nursing him," said Dorothy.

When her sister Lily was widowed shortly after the pair got together again and would live with each other for nearly 30 years. Dorothy joined them in 1954 and they moved to West Leigh Road, in Lammack.

And even at 55, when most people would perhaps think of slowing down, Rene threw herself into a job with Gilchrist & Warburton solicitors in Blackburn. Dorothy became a teacher at St Hilda's Church Girls School, later to become St Wilfrid's on Byrom Street, Blackburn.

When Rene retired she "ran the house" she shared with Dorothy and became a valued member of the local community. She joined the Blackburn Townswomen's Guild where she was a "dominant force."

"Rene became president with them and she always spoke her mind and to her Rene was always right," said Dorothy wryly.

Rene and Dorothy moved to Whalley New Road, Langho, in 1981 and after a fall in 1999 Rene was admitted into residential care.

"Rene broke her hip bone and underwent an operation -- the same as the Queen Mum," said Dorothy. "She never full recovered from that which was such a shame. Rene would never accept a walking frame. She would say they were for old people -- and that's when she was in her 90s."

Even at Hazeldene Nursing Home, on Ribchester Road, -- where Rene is the oldest resident and their first centenarian -- she is making an impression.