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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Joel Leaver

Deborah James beams as she celebrates brother's engagement by throwing her 'last' party

Dame Deborah James has shared her excitement over her brother proposing to his partner this week, with the special occasion giving her an excuse to throw her "last" party.

The podcaster, 40, who is receiving end-of-life care after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, shared the news with her 900,000 followers on Instagram this morning.

She announced earlier that her brother Benjamin James had proposed to his partner of eleven years Ashley Hall, with Deborah having thrown them an engagement party.

The charity campaigner said she "couldn't be prouder" to share the news, though told she her followers that she was "sad" to not get to attend the couple's upcoming wedding.

Dame Deborah James (front left) announced that her brother Benjamin James (back) had got engaged to his partner Ashley Hall (front right) (bowelbabe/Instagram)

Deborah - whose Bowelbabe Fund has raised more than £6 million for Cancer Research UK - announced the news alongside photos of herself with the couple themselves.

She's seen beaming with excitement as she points to the engagement ring, with another photo showing the BBC podcast host holding up Ashley's hand for the camera.

Alongside the photos, Deborah wrote in the caption: "He finally put a ring on it. Congratulations to [Benjamin and Ashley] for finally getting engaged after 11 years."

Deborah said she 'couldn't be prouder' over the engagement news (bowelbabe/Instagram)

She said that fans who have listened to her podcasts over the years will recall that "brother banter features highly" and Prince William is even said to have joined in once.

Deborah - who has two children, Hugo and Eloise, with her husband Sebastian Bowen - said "everyone" in the family knew that Benjamin and Ashley wanted to get engaged.

"It's just always been apparently about 'the right time.' So they finally did it and then FaceTimed me from Cornwall. [...] My mouth was still open for the rest of the day," she said.

She threw an engagement party for the couple (bowelbabe/Instagram)

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Deborah said she "couldn't be prouder to be able to say" that Ashley will be her sister-in-law, adding: "I adore her." She said Ashley makes her brother happy and vice versa.

"Of course I'm sad I won't see the wedding but it gave me an excuse to throw my last impromptu party," Deborah continued in the the post about her brother's engagement.

The You, Me and the Big C podcast host said she threw the party with the help of her sister and niece, noting that the "kids baked a cake" but ended up making a bit of a mess.

Deborah said her daughter Eloise (left) had inherited her talent for throwing parties (Instagram)

Deborah said she loves "curating tablescapes and parties," adding: "Whilst that was the last one for me, Eloise has truly now outdone me so I feel chuffed I can pass on the party train trait."

She suggested in the recent post that passing on the trait hasn't been intentional, with her explaining: "A memory made without us even trying to make it a memory. Win."

And she commented in the post that her body "kept awake" for a few hours allowing her to celebrate the engagement with her family, with the rain "luckily" holding off too.

Deborah concluded by teasing over her family, writing on social media: "Ashley welcomed officially to a slightly mad family, but we couldn't be happier you are here."

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