Why Prince William was 'not allowed' to hug special guest

(Image credit: Getty)

published 30 June 2023

Prince William awarded TV presenter and journalist Kate Garraway an MBE but he wasn't allowed to hug her ill husband Derek Draper during the moving meeting.

Kate Garraway's husband Derek Draper is still suffering from long Covid after falling unwell in 2020 and spending over a year in hospital.
On Wednesday, the Prince of Wales awarded Kate an MBE, with her husband Derek watching on with his carer.
In other royal news, Prince George may have a special new role to take on next year at this important event.

Kate Garraway has opened up about the investiture ceremony in which she was awarded an MBE by the Prince of Wales, explaining why he "wasn't allowed" to go and give her husband Derek a hug.

Kate was awarded the MBE at Windsor Castle by Prince William on Wednesday for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity and her husband Derek, who is in a wheelchair, watched on with his carer.

Speaking out about the investiture ceremony, Kate revealed that William asked about Derek's health. She said, "Derek burst into tears. The Prince of Wales said, ‘How’s Derek?’ and I said, ‘He’s here’."

She added that William, who was moved by Derek's battle with Covid back in 2020 when he first became ill, wanted to go over to Derek, but couldn't.

She explained, "[William] said he wants to go over [to Draper] but he’s not allowed to leave the rug, there’s a very fancy gold carpet that he stands on. So we turned and saw and then obviously Derek was very tearful and then spoke about Jake [Draper’s carer] and gave Jake a wave as well."

And revealing how the investiture ceremony itself played out, Good Morning Britain's Kate said, "You get presented by the lovely Prince of Wales and then you go outside, they take it off you and put it in a box.

"And I said, ‘Oh, am I not allowed to wear this?’ and they said, ‘Well, there is a card inside which tells you the specific occasions you are supposed to wear it’, which I have lost! I lost it already."

Speaking about their experience at Windsor castle, Kate added, "It was lovely at the castle, there were so many people who wanted to shake Derek’s hand and say, ‘My father, my husband, my brother… What you’ve gone through has given us a lot of hope’.

"Because they are dealing with things from Covid but also other things like cancer which are difficult. So I think he got a huge amount from it as well, which was very, very lovely."

Derek contracted Covid in March 2020 and spent more than a year in hospital, with some of that time in an induced coma. He still requires round-the-clock care at home and is in and out of hospital for treatments and is thought to be the worst-affected Covid patient in the UK.

Derek almost didn't make it to the ceremony as he had been back in hospital, with Kate revealing, "It has been a tough 10 days for him. He was determined to be there."

Robyn is a celebrity and entertainment journalist and editor with over eight years experience in the industry. As well as contributing regular to woman&home, she also often writes for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman's Weekly and The Sun.