Kate Garraway was presented with an MBE by Prince William today as her husband Derek Draper watched on alongside her proud parents.
In a moving moment, the Good Morning Britain star turned and gestured to Derek, 55 – who could be seen laughing in his wheelchair as William smiled.
The author looked happy and healthier following a gruelling ordeal that saw him become the longest surviving hospital patient with Covid in the UK. He was accompanied by his wife’s former civil servant father and teacher mother.
Kate, 56, has kept viewers updated about his condition since he first went to hospital in March 2020 – and in April this year shared a heartwarming photo showing him finally back at home with their children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 13.
Derek – who is also a former lobbyist – was left close to death on several occasions since contracting Covid at the start of the pandemic, most likely at the Prince’s Trust Awards also attended by King Charles, then the Prince of Wales.
Kate Garraway was presented with her MBE today by Prince William, with her husband Derek Draper watching on from his wheelchair (he can be seen to the right of Kate)
The Good Morning presenter gestured to Derek in a moving moment after the ceremony
The author and former lobbyist, 55, looked happy and healthier following a health battle that saw him become the longest surviving hospital patient with Covid in the UK
Kate was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.
Reacting to the news, she said on Good Morning Britain in January: ‘I actually feel very awkward about it all really, I don’t know why, because I’m thrilled to bits and incredibly honoured.’
She added: ‘But you just sort of think, ‘What? Me?’ And then you think it’s not real.’
Earlier this month Kate revealed Derek was finally able to speak.
She told Loose Women: ‘It’s very much a whisper. I don’t think we’re necessarily going to have a conversation, but you get fantastic moments.
Billy 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 also spoke about returning to the show after her 2021 documentary aired, saying: ‘It’s a strange one really. last time I was on here, just got back from jungle, we were planning on renewing our vows….
‘In a matter of weeks, we were in that unfolding drama. It feels like forever ago but it could’ve been just yesterday. in some levels everyone’s lives have changed dramatically, but for me I’m still living the scenes you see in the documentary’.
Back in April, Derek’s smiling return home from hospital gave fresh hope to his family and friends – three years after his body was first ravaged by Covid-19 and sepsis.
Derek – accompanied by his carer – watches on as his wife Kate is made an MBE by Prince William at Buckingham Palace
Kate curtseyed as she held the royal’s hand. She was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity
William buttons the award to Kate’s lapel while Derek smiles
Derek was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition, later entering a coma. Days later Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed ‘mild symptoms’.
Kate revealed at the time she and the now monarch had got ‘relatively close’ at the Prince’s Trust Awards on March 11, 2020.
Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March.
She said: ‘Around the 29/30 March, I came home and said [to Derek] ‘god you look ill’.
‘He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe,
‘I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance’.
Derek was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition, later entering a coma.
Days later Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed ‘mild symptoms’.
She said at the time: ‘Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I’m afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time.
‘I’m afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.’
The following month his health deteriorated further.
Kate recently shared a heartfelt letter she received from William’s father King Charles about Derek’s health struggles
In April Kate revealed Derek was back from hospital after sharing a beaming family snap on Sunday where husband looked in better health. Their children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 13, can be seen in the background
Kate said at the time: ‘The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight.
‘But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.’
That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers.
She said: ‘I’ll never give up on that because Derek’s the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty’.
On June 5, 2020, Kate revealed Derek was free from coronavirus but continued to fight against the damage inflicted on his body.
A month later she revealed Derek had woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition.
Three days later she announced she would be returning to GMB, after being urged by doctors to ‘get on with life’ during Derek’s recovery.
Kate and Derek pictured together in 2019, before he fell ill
She added that Derek had ‘opened his eyes’ after waking from his coma.
Kate revealed she’d paid an ‘extra emotional’ first visit to Derek, and admitted saw was ‘frustrated’ by his slow progress.
And as GMB viewers asked for updates on his condition, she reassured them that Derek was ‘still with us,’ but it was ‘a waiting game.’
Days later, on August 19, Kate revealed she celebrated Derek’s birthday with their two children, and described the day as ‘challenging’ for her family.
At the end of September, Derek became the longest surviving patient with coronavirus after spending 184 days in and out of intensive care, where he lost eight stone.
And in more good news, a month later, Derek spoke for the first time in seven months, saying the word ‘pain’ to his wife, who watched on ‘in tears’ over FaceTime.
For the first time he no longer needed a ventilator to breathe.
Derek became the longest-suffering coronavirus patient in the UK after spending 13 months in hospital
Derek has been unwell with long COVID since 2020 and Jake looked after him when he first came out of hospital. Pictured: Derek with his carer Jake
On their first Christmas apart, Kate visited him on Christmas Day but the festive period was ‘calamitous’. Their house was flooded and she struggled to get a food delivery slot until her pal Emma Willis stepped in to help.
Kate revealed she and her children got to visit Derek in hospital over the Christmas period, and it was the first time her family had seen him since he was hospitalised.
And 13 months after he went to hospital, Kate said Derek was finally allowed to leave in April 2021, but needed round-the-clock care.
And during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, Kate revealed that Derek had said ‘I love you’ for the first time.
After celebrating Christmas, Derek was also pictured in a wheelchair during a trip to the pantomime with his family.
In the new year Kate offered a glimpse into the daily struggles of looking after her husband amid his battle with long Covid in the documentary Caring For Derek
She also revealed that Derek would die within three days if he was left alone to care for himself.
On July 6 2022, Kate revealed that Derek had been re-admitted to hospital after suffering a ‘downturn,’ and in a later interview said she takes things ‘day by day.’
On July 20, it was reported that Kate had pulled out of hosting Good Morning Britain to be at Derek’s bedside after he took a ‘very serious’ turn for the worse.
Kate has cared for Derek (both pictured) since 2020 when he first became ill with Covid at the onset of the pandemic
Recalling the traumatic day, the 55-year-old ITV star told The Sun: ‘At one point Derek said to me, ‘This is it, this time. I am gone.’ It was just terrifying.
‘His sepsis was gut-wrenching for all of us because it had gone undiagnosed until the point where it was about to take his life away again.’
In January 2023 Kate Garraway became overwhelmed as she confronted former health secretary Matt Hancock over his handling of the pandemic and his decision to go on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here.
Mr Hancock was forced to resign in June 2021 when he was caught flouting his own social distancing guidance by kissing Gina Coladangelo – who he hired with taxpayers’ money.
Describing public anger towards him, Kate added of his decision to appear on I’m a Celebrity: ‘This gives the impression you still don’t get why they are cross. You still don’t get why people are upset. They want to hold you to more account.’ Mr Hancock replied: ‘I get all that. I really do. I really feel it’.
Kate asked him if he understood the anger that people felt towards him, especially those separated by loved ones who were in hospital.
She then became tearful and looked up as she spoke about Derek, who has been unwell for approaching three years.
