Kate Garraway hopes to take her husband Derek Draper to Buckingham Palace to pick up her MBE.
Kate Garraway hopes to take her husband Derek Draper to Buckingham Palace to pick up her MBE
The 'Good Morning Britain' presenter's significant other has required round-the-clock care since he contracted coronavirus in March 2020, and he is still battling the after effects after his body was ravaged by COVID, but Kate is hoping she and Derek will be able to go to Buckingham Palace for the investiture ceremony.
She said: "It was amazing! But I haven’t received it yet, so I don’t want to tempt fate in case they retract the offer!
"I do feel there’s room for celebration, though, and my hope is that if we do eventually have a ceremony, Derek will be further along in his recovery and we can go together. That would be wonderful."
Kate, 55 admitted she and Derek, 54, are "still learning" how they are as "man and wife" since their lives were turned upside down by coronavirus more than two years ago.
She added to Good Housekeeping magazine: "When you nearly lose someone, it certainly brings everything into sharp focus.
"In many ways, we’re still learning how we are as man and wife, as so much has changed.
"It’s the same for the children – they’re having to relearn the experience of being with their dad. And, of course, the biggest learning is for poor Derek."
Kate previously admitted she felt "very awkward" about being awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List, but was also "thrilled to bits and incredibly honoured".
She said: "It's strange isn't it, because I actually feel very awkward about it all really. I don't know why because I'm thrilled to bits and incredibly honoured, but you just sort of think, 'What, me?' is the first thing you think, isn't it, and then you think it's not real.
"So what happens - in my experience anyway - is you get a letter saying you've been put forward for an honour, don't know what, would you accept it if you did? Derek's had a bit of time going in and out of hospital recently, so I was actually with him at the time and his sister-in-law was in charge of opening letters that looked official - mainly bills, and she opened it and said, 'Gosh I shouldn't have opened this, this is really exciting you should have opened this yourself,' and I said, 'Oh for God's sake, we need to say yes to whatever it is,' and then you hear nothing.
"Then there was something in the papers a couple of weeks before Christmas and I thought, 'Well I haven't heard,' and then on the 30th I got a letter. On the outside it said it was from Buckingham Palace and it said to Kathryn Draper Garraway on the outside. It also said MBE and I thought, 'Well, they're not going to get it wrong, it must be that', and inside they just say, 'Congratulations, very pleased to hear, really thrilled that you've got this honour,' so I thought it must be true.
"But I still didn't quite believe it until on New Year's Eve, people started - I think it was announced with the New Year's Honours List - people started to say congratulations. But it's a strange feeling because it's things that other people get."
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