Kate Garraway has spoken about being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Prince William and revealed her proud husband Derek Draper’s reaction.
The Good Morning Britain host, 56, was awarded the honour in recognition of her services in broadcasting, journalism and charity work at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday with Draper and her parents watching on.
Former political advisor Draper, 55, is thought to be the UK’s worst-affected Covid survivor after contracting it in 2020 and has since experienced ongoing health issues.
Garraway put her career on hold temporarily to care for him and their plight was featured in the documentaries Finding Derek and Caring For Derek.
Appearing on the ITV breakfast show on Thursday, Garraway told co-host Ben Shephard that her other half had been “determined” to be there for her big day, despite having been in hospital only 48 hours before.
She also shared how he had been overcome with emotion when her time came to stand before the Prince of Wales.
Watching back footage, Shephard commented how he could see Draper and Garraway’s family in a backshot.
“Ah I know, Derek burst into tears,” she replied. “The lovely thing was Prince William said ‘how’s Derek’ and I said ‘here’s here!’ So we turned and saw and then obviously Derek was very tearful and then we spoke about Jake [Derek’s carer] and gave Jake a wave as well.
“Prince William said he wanted to go over but he’s not allowed to leave the rug. There’s a very fancy red-and-gold carpet that he stands on.” Kate added: “It was lovely at the castle there were so many people who wanted to shake Derek’s hand and say ‘my father, my husband, my brother... what you’ve gone through has given us a lot of hope.
“Because they are dealing with things from Covid but also other things like cancer which are difficult. So I think he got a huge amount from it as well, which was very very lovely.” She added: “48 hours before, he was in hospital – it has been a tough 10 days for him.
“He was determined to be there.”
In addition to her two award-winning documentaries, Garraway has also written two books – The Power Of Hope: The Moving Memoir From ITV’s Kate Garraway, and upcoming follow-up The Strength Of Love: Embracing An Uncertain Future With Resilience And Optimism – following Draper’s health struggle.
There are now plans for her to front a third documentary exposing the “broken” care system.
