Williams has been attempting to break the record for the world’s longest nails for 30 years, but she is now willing to relinquish her title after three decades. Williams visited Trinity Vista Dermatology in Fort Worth, Texas, where her nails were removed by Dr. Allison Readinger with a rotary power tool. Guinness sent a representative to measure Williams’s nails one last time before Dr. Allison Readinger used her rotary power tool to remove Williams’ nails, hoping that she might beat her own record and make it more difficult for others to take over her title.

Since the 1990s, Williams has not cut her nails. She finally made it to the front of the line and was acknowledged with the World Record in 2017. Her nails were 8 feet, 10.9 inches long at that time. According to Williams, she used two full bottles of nail polish and spent about twenty hours on her manicure.

Since Williams hadn’t had her nails measured in a while, it’s likely that her World Record has increased. Guinness reported that Williams’ nails had grown to be 24 feet, 0.7 inches this year during her last measurement. It would take Williams four bottles of polish and several days to do herself a manicure on her beloved lengthy fingernails at this point.

“I have this thing that I do with children when they come up to me, and they say ‘Are those your nails?!’ and I say ‘Yeah’ and then I ask, and I say ‘How old are you?’ and they say ‘I’m ten, or I’m seven,’ and I say ‘Guess how old my nails are? They’re like 28 – 29 years! They’re older than you!’” she said to Guinness.

For years, Ms. Williams’ nails have been an important part of her life. Even though they made doing daily activities like cleaning the dishes and making her bed impossible, she generally liked having lengthy nails. She’s also satisfied with the fact that she was able to pass on a legacy to her loved ones, especially her grandkids and great-grandchildren.

“With my movements, I have to be very, very careful. So usually, in my mind, I’m already preparing for the next step that I have to do to make sure that I don’t hurt myself with my nails – or break them. I’m excited about cutting my nails because I’m looking forward to new beginnings.”

Williams’ nails will also be on display at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, Florida, following his death.

Williams no longer has extraordinarily long nails, although she does enjoy maintaining them looking nice. She’s not deterred by having her lengthy nails trimmed and thinks she still has a lot to offer the world.

“With or without my nails, I will still be the queen. My nails don’t make me. I make my nails!”