Prince William says awarding damehood to Deborah James was ‘amazing for her family’

‘I was very honoured to be able to speak to her,’ says Duke

(Graham Prentice)

The Duke of Cambridge has spoken about the experience of giving Deborah James her Damehood, calling it “amazing”.

James, known online as Bowel Babe, was given the honour for her “tireless campaigning” to raise awareness of bowel cancer throughout her illness.

Prince William paid a visit to her at home earlier this month to present her with the award in person.

Speaking about the visit to Dr Nicos Fotiadis, a consultant interventional radiologist, who treated James, the Duke said: “It was an amazing moment for them,” adding “I loved meeting her, she was fantastic.”

He added that the cancer activist has “as she put it, she made bowel cancer sexy”.

William spoke to several other people involved with James’s care, including chief nurse Mairead Griffin, deputy chief nurse Jo Waller and ward sister Rowena Trono.

“I was very honoured to be able to speak to her, it felt like a very personal family moment... it was a glorious day as well,” he told them of his visit to the You, Me And The Big C host’s home.

“But thank you, I know she’d want me to say this as well, thank you to you guys for caring for her - she always spoke very highly about her care.”

The Duke also described how the family celebrated with champagne: “She was saying basically ‘I can now drink, I can now drink this is brilliant’.

“She was triple parked and she kept making a joke about how many drinks she could get lined up in front of her.”

Additional reporting by PA