PRINCE William revealed that he loved meeting and awarding Deborah James with her Damehood as it was an “amazing” experience for her family.
The Duke of Cambridge said Dame Deborah was “fantastic” as he today met the nurses and medical specialists who cared for the cancer campaigner.
The Celeb Report’s stellar columnist Dame Deborah, known online as Bowel Babe, was honoured for her “tireless campaigning” to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
Prince William visited her at home earlier this month to present the campaigner with her honour after raising £5million in a cancer fundraiser.
In an “unprecedented” move, the Duke cleared his diary to do the honours at a tea party at her parents’ home in Woking, Surrey.
And William has now revealed that the “glorious” afternoon felt like a “very personal family moment.”
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In a bittersweet moment, William described how Dame Deborah joked she could now “drink” and was “triple parked” with glasses lined up as they celebrated her damehood.
Speaking about when he visited Dame Deborah at home, he told Dr Nicos Fotiadis, a consultant interventional radiologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital: “It was an amazing moment for them.
“I loved meeting her, she was fantastic.”
The Duke added: “I was very honoured to be able to speak to her, it felt like a very personal family moment… it was a glorious day as well.
“But thank you, I know she’d want me to say this as well, thank you to you guys for caring for her – she always spoke very highly about her care.”
William also joked that “as she put it, she made bowel cancer sexy” when he visited the doctors and watched a cancer patient undergo cutting-edge treatment provided by a robotic surgeon.
The host of the popular BBC podcast You, Me And The Big C previously disclosed she has moved to hospice-at-home care to treat her terminal bowel cancer.
William also chatted to chief nurse Mairead Griffin, deputy chief nurse Jo Waller and ward sister Rowena Trono who also cared for the campaigner.
When Prince William awarded Deborah with her honours, he spent time speaking to her two children, Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12, offering words of advice and guidance.
Wills, whose mother Princess Diana died when he was 15, told them he had been through something similar.
Deborah’s family put on a traditional afternoon tea with scones and bubbly — and said the “down-to-earth” Duke enjoyed a smoked salmon sarnie.
Reflecting on the “surreal” day, Dame Debs told The Celeb Report: “The Duke was so charming and put all of us at ease immediately.
“He was incredibly engaging and generous with his time, I could have spoken to him all afternoon.”
Normally, Damehoods and Knighthoods are announced only twice a year — at either the New Year Honours or Queen’s Birthday Honours.
But because of Deborah’s circumstances, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace and No10 pulled out all the stops so the honour could be conferred.
