Kate Garraway has revealed brave daughter Darcey asked to carry her father Derek Draper’s coffin and wrote an emotional eulogy for the funeral.
The presenter spoke from her home via videolink just three days after his funeral on Good Morning Britain on Monday, in what is her first TV appearance since his death last month.
Kate, who spent four years caring for Derek after he suffered serious health complications from Covid, praised Darcey, 17, for being ‘extraordinarily brave’ during the tough time.
Darcey acted as a pall bearer when the coffin, covered with purple and white flowers, made its way out of the church.
Talking about Derek’s funeral on Friday, host Suzanna Reid said: ‘The funeral was beautiful and you did him proud. The children were there and had such strength and Darcy was one of the bearers.’
Kate then discussed her daughter Darcey’s role as a pallbearer at the service, saying: ‘Darcey came into the room when we were talking about it [funeral plans] and said please will you let me carry the coffin.
Kate Garraway has revealed brave daughter Darcey asked to carry her father Derek Draper’s coffin and wrote an emotional eulogy for the funeral
Kate, who spent four years caring for Derek after he suffered serious health complications from Covid, praised Darcey for being ‘extraordinarily brave’ during the tough time
‘And I thought, crikey, that’s a practical challenge, anybody who’s ever done it, it’s a heavy thing. And she said I want to do it and basically insisted on doing it and I thought that was a beautiful thing that she carried her dad.’
Kate went on to reveal the final words her Darcey told her father.
The GMB host revealed Darcey said: ‘We will be OK. Don’t worry about mum. We will be fine. You don’t have to worry about looking after us all. You will live on through us.’
Speaking on Darcey and son Billy, she added: ‘For their grieving, we are in the foothills, we know there is a long way to go.’
She continued: ‘They didn’t want to pressure him to keep going. I don’t think he did feel that, I think he kept going because he wanted to be here.’
The presenter, whose husband Derek Draper died on January 3 aged 56, took a break from her presenting role last December after he had a cardiac arrest.
Kate is said to be ‘keen to keep busy and get back to work’, and is also hoping to return to her show on Smooth Radio. She is provisionally scheduled to return full-time, but ITV have offered her the option to take time off as and when she needs.
Kate Garraway and her children – Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14 – leave Derek Derek’s funeral at the Church Of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill, North West London
Kate, who spent four years caring for Derek after he suffered serious health complications from Covid, praised Darcey, 17, for being ‘extraordinarily brave’ during the tough time
The funeral of Draper – which was attended by figures including ex-prime minister Sir Tony Blair , musician Sir Elton John and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – was held last Friday at the Church Of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill, North West London.
Meanwhile Garraway confirmed she will return to the desk on GMB on Thursday and joked: ‘I’m going to be looking forward to a blow dry.’
She said she will also be cracking out the fake eyelashes and fake tan, adding: ‘Don’t worry – I am going to be looking a lot more respectable.’
Garraway went on: ‘I am looking forward to coming into the world and connecting with everyone again.
‘Thank you for having me back but have a little patience, I might be a bit rusty. I think there is a new king. Have I caught up with that?’
Garraway also said she has received ‘extraordinary’ messages of condolence from unexpected places.
She told GMB: ‘I had the most beautiful letter from David and Victoria Beckham – handwritten, very good handwriting… that was Darcey’s observation.
‘And from the Royal Family – Catherine and William sent a beautiful letter, and I know Catherine has been in hospital herself.
‘Even the King, because there is somebody knows about grief, that anticipatory grief where you know something has a risk of happening and how different it is when it does happen.’
Derek Draper died on January 3 aged 56 after a cardiac arrest. The former political lobbyist suffered major health implications after contracting Covid in 2020
The presenter took a break from her presenting role last December after he had a cardiac arrest (pictured at the National Television Awards in London in 2007)
Ahead of Garraway’s return to GMB, a post on the show’s X account said yesterday: ‘Tomorrow Kate Garraway joins us to talk for the first time since the death of her beloved husband Derek. Watch from 6am on ITV.’
In a short video accompanying the post, which included a series of images and clips of the pair, an ITV voiceover said: ‘Kate Garraway has shared the story of caring for Derek over the last four years, highlighting the struggle faced by thousands.
‘Tomorrow, she returns to Good Morning Britain to talk for the first time since the death of her beloved husband.’
After the funeral Garraway, wearing a long black coat and pearl necklace and carrying a candle, left the church with the couple’s children – Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14.
Draper fell seriously ill during the early part of the pandemic in March 2020 and spent 13 months in hospital before he was discharged.
He died on January 3 after suffering long-lasting symptoms from coronavirus.