DAME Deborah James has joked that she can’t die over the Jubilee weekend because Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would steal the limelight.
Despite her failing health due to incurable bowel cancer and receiving end-of-life care the beloved Sun writer was still able to raise a smile.
The 40-year-old campaigner told The Celeb Report: “I’m determined not to die over the Jubilee weekend, I don’t want Meghan stealing my thunder.”
She added: “I haven’t worked so hard to raise cancer awareness and money to help find a cure, only to miss out on another Sun front page when I go.”
Debs was presented with a damehood by Prince William last month when he cleared his diary to visit her parents’ home.
Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan Markle, 40, are currently in the UK to take part in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and introduce their daughter Lilibet to the monarch.
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The Queen, 96, today wished her great-granddaughter happy birthday as she turned one, with the family expected to celebrate the milestone privately.
Taking a more serious tone, Debs said: “Dying is really hard. I’ve been consumed by anger this week, in all honesty, I’ve been a real bitch.
“I keep shouting at people and pushing them away. I’m angry at what’s happening to me. I don’t want to die.”
“I don’t want my friends to see me like this,” she said. “I don’t want them to remember me this way.”
“I don’t really believe that it’s happening. It all feels like a horrible joke. Watching the demise of my body is really, really sad.
“I was someone who, even for most of my time living with cancer, was fit and healthy. So to see myself like this now, it’s heartbreaking.”
Debs added: “It’s a really scary thing to face, I’m only 40, and it’s heartbreaking knowing what I am leaving behind.
“What’s really hard is that no one talks about death, we don’t really know what happens or how we’re meant to navigate it.
“Death is life’s last taboo. I hope that by talking about it a bit, I might bring some comfort to others. People might look at me and think, ‘Just spend time with your family.’
“They might question why I’m doing all this — the book launch, the T-shirts, raising money for my BowelBabe Fund. The truth is, it’s giving me purpose in my final days.
“It’s amazing what you can do with a deadline — the ultimate one. And my family are all a part of this with me. We’re doing it our way.”
RAISED MILLIONS FOR CHARITY
So far, Debs has raised a staggering £6.6MILLION — with another £1million raised from the sale of her Rebellious Hope T-shirts, pre-sales of her second book How To Live When You Could Be Dead, and a rose named in her honour.
Debs has also found some comfort in what previously would have been mundane everyday tasks, such as putting on make-up and doing the cooking.
She said: “Most days, I sit in the conservatory for at least an hour, in my wheelchair, brushing my hair and putting on mascara and lippy. I’ve found it’s really weirdly important to me, more so than ever.
Debs added: “It’s weird — I don’t really eat much — but the act of finding a recipe, buying the ingredients, or sending my mum to get them, and then helping chop, doing what I can, brings me real comfort.”
Her family have been giving her a huge amount of support and the bond she has with her siblings has only grown stronger.
She said: “We’ve always been really close, but the last few weeks have been mind-blowing. It’s interesting, at the end of your life, who you want around you.
“My parents have been amazing, Seb and the kids too. But, oh my God, my sister and brother . . . I couldn’t be doing this without them. It makes me so emotional, I’m going to cry. They are incredible.
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“We started our lives together and now, in my final days, they are here with me, they get me.
“They are probably two of the only people I haven’t told to ‘f**k off’ this week. I can’t really describe how they are getting me through this.”
