KATE Garraway’s proud husband Derek Draper watched on with a beaming smile as she was made an MBE at Windsor Castle today.
Broadcaster Kate, who has worked tirelessly all the while caring for Derek, 55, after his life-changing illness, received the honour from Prince William.
Kate Garraway was made an MBE today by Prince William
Kate received the honour inside Windsor Castle
Derek proudly watched his wife’s special occasion
She looked stunning for the special occasion in a cream dress with a pleated skirt and a matching fascinator.
Derek looked very smart in a suit and tie as he watched wife Kate’s interaction with William from his wheelchair.
Good Morning Britain star Kate, 56, was recognised for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.
Kate’s TV career spans more than three decades, and she’s been a fixture on morning telly with ITV since 2000 when she joined GMTV from Sky.
She is a regular co-host of Good Morning Britain and has presented two National Television Award-winning documentaries about husband Derek’s plight after he contracted Covid in March 2020 and suffered life-threatening complications.
Brave Kate recently announced that she’s working on an untitled third documentary about Derek’s illness and is also releasing a second book, The Strength of Love, later this year.
She was asked by Loose Women panellist Linda Robson if Derek could speak, and responded: “It’s very much a whisper. I don’t think we’re necessarily going to have a conversation, but you get fantastic moments.
“Billy [their son] had a new basketball and was bouncing it, and he said ‘is that new ball?’ He said: ‘It’s nice’.
“Seeing him able to was amazing. Billy was in tears; they were hugging. It’s things like that that really lift you up, and the next day he was really still.”
Kate cast her mind back to her last appearance on Loose Women in 2020, before Derek fell ill.
She said: “The last time I was on the show was the beginning of 2020. Derek and I were going to renew our vows. It was very happy. In a matter of weeks we were in this unfolding drama.
“It feels like forever ago, and just yesterday.
“I’m still living the scenes you see in the documentary. I’ve decided to do another documentary. I’ve written a book, nearly finished, which is coming out in September.
“The publishers have been very good because it was supposed to be out last year and I just couldn’t complete it.
“Everything was just too much and also, having written the first one, The Power Of Hope, which was all about Covid which we were all experiencing at the time, I felt we’d all moved on and actually we’re living a different kind of chaos now. There’s a lot more anger around and frustration. A lot of people feel quite betrayed and desperate.
“I didn’t want to write a book about the low times, I wanted to get to a place where it can be really positive and share some of the things I’ve learned to get through it.”
Derek couldn’t stop smiling in the grand room
