Derek Draper funeral: Kate Garraway’s husband to be laid to rest today in service attended by Elton John and Keir Starmer

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Kate Garraway laid her husband Derek Draper to rest at a funeral service at the London church where they got married 18 years ago.

The beloved Good Morning Britain presenter, 56, was joined by her children, Darcey and Billy, for the funeral at the Church of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill on Friday (2 February).

Garraway wore a long black coat and a pearl necklace while entering the same church where she and Draper tied the knot in 2005.

The funeral was held nearly one month after Garraway confirmed her “darling husband” Draper had died from a cardiac arrest, following an agonising, four-year battle with long Covid, on 5 January.

The former political lobbyist-turned-psychologist was 56.

Garraway’s GMB colleagues, including Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, and Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish.

The musician had previously invited Draper and Garraway to be his guests of honour at his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert at London’s O2 Arena last year.

Draper, who fell seriously ill during the early part of the pandemic and spent 13 months in hospital before he was discharged, had attended few public events over the last few years.

He died on January 3 aged 56 after an agonising battle with long Covid.

Garraway’s fellow GMB stars, including Charlotte Hawkins, Richard Madeley, Alex Beresford, Rob Rinder, Sean Fletcher and Richard Arnold, also paid their respects to Draper during the service at the church in northwest London.

Former prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie were also present, as they joined Garraway’s family to give Draper, who was the UK’s worst-affected Covid patient, a proper send-off.

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video

Sign up now for a 30-day free trial

Sign up

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video

Sign up now for a 30-day free trial

Sign up

Blair described the Labour adviser as a ruthless political operative and “an important part of the New Labour story” in a poignant tribute after his death.

“It is extraordinary and remarkable that Derek survived so long after the ravages of Covid,” Blair said in a statement. “And that was in large measure due to the love Derek had for his family and they for him. This also says something very special about Derek.

“He was a tough, sometimes ruthless political operative, a brilliant adviser and someone you always wanted on your side. But underneath that tough exterior he was a loving, kind, generous and good-natured man you wanted as a friend,” Blair continued.

TV presenter Fiona Phillips and This Morning editor Martin Frizell, who both worked on the former ITV morning programme GMTV, and former GMB star Piers Morgan were also in attendance.

Morgan previously praised his “heroic” friend Garraway’s “commitment, dedication, and loyalty” to Draper through his arduous and painful health struggles.

Writing a column forThe Sun after Draper’s death, the TalkTV presenter noted: “Their marriage was even more magnificently powerful in the face of such tremendous adversity than it was in the good times, fuelled by a mutual love so profoundly deep that few experience anything like it.”

Garraway spent nearly four years caring for Draper after he was diagnosed with Covid at the onset of the pandemic. Through that time, she continued to shine a light on the family’s struggles in a bid to raise awareness about long Covid and what it’s like caring for a loved one suffering from it.

She captured the devastating and permanent impact the disease had on her family in the incredibly moving documentary Finding Derek. Garraway was awarded an MBE by the Prince of Wales in recognition for her services to journalism, broadcasting and charity, during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in July last year.

Also arriving for Draper’s funeral service on Friday were former Labour MPs Ed Balls, Lord Peter Mandelson and Tristram Hunt as well as shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband and former Number 10 director of communications Alastair Campbell.

Draper was a former researcher of Lord Mandelson and was a key figure in the early years of New Labour in the 1990s.

The Labour grandee’s wedding to his long-term partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva last October was Draper’s final public outing before his death.

Myleene Klass, who has previously stepped in to host Garraway’s Smooth Radio show was also among the mourners.

Speaking on behalf of his friend, Shephard, 49, previously said Garraway and her children – Darcey and Billy – were in the “next stages” of grieving for Draper in an update on 11 January.

He told GMB viewers that Garraway was beyond grateful for the outpouring of love and support for her family as they navigated a world without Draper – who she was married to for 18 years.

Garraway, 56, often provided health updates about her husband on the ITV morning programme and fronted two documentaries on the channel about how the family’s life changed following his illness.

Garraway confirmed she would take a leave of absence from her presenting roles, including on GMB, after Draper’s death.

The presenter, who hosts GMB and her own show on Smooth Radio, plans to return to work in the future, according to the PA news agency.

Garraway announced that Draper, who contracted Covid-19 during the early days of the pandemic, had died after becoming “critically ill” early in December last year.

In a statement shared on Instagram, she wrote:“I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away,” she wrote. “As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.

“Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed. Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support.

“Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life,” she wrote.

Additional reporting on wires