BBC's Deborah James surrounded by family and friends in hospice as she says 'goodbye'

Duke of Cambridge visited her at her parents' home in Woking, Surrey, to personally hand over the honour.The former headteacher has been campaigning for cancer and has since been moved to hospice care with her family after battling stage four bowel cancer since 2016.Taking to her Instagram stories today, the 40-year-old shared her "Thought of the day..."In view of her 736,000 followers, the campaigner shared a candid quote she received from a late friend.Deborah wrote: "A late friend once told me to embrace the rain, because you never knew when the last time you might feel the rain on your face is... so am embracing it! Albeit with blankets."Her candid message comes just days after the podcast host enjoyed an afternoon of tea and champagne with Prince William, as he presented her with a Damehood for her tireless fundraising efforts.Her Bowel Babe fund, which was launched last week to raise money for Cancer Research UK, has received more than £6million in donations.Sharing pictures of their meeting on Instagram, Deborah penned: "Prince William actually came to our family house today!"I am utterly honoured that he joined us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent a generous amount of time talking to my whole family but also honoured me with my Damehood."She continued: "It’s quite surreal having a royal pop in at home, and yes you can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale - but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind and he put us all at ease."He is clearly passionate about improving oncology outcomes as the President of the Royal Marsden."It was such a special day for my whole family, making memories to last a lifetime.

Dame Deborah James has vowed to embrace the British weather, even if it is pouring down.

In a poignant and emotional post to her Instagram account, Dame Deborah James reflected on what sitting and enjoying the rain has meant to her.The 40 year old mum-of-two has been campaigning to raise awareness about bowel cancer since her own diagnosis five years ago. Former schoolteacher and BBC Podcast host Deborah heartbreakingly revealed just days ago that she is now receiving end-of-life hospice care at home and "nobody knows how long I've got left" after her body "not not playing ball" with cancer treatment.

Richard Madeley appeared to be choked up as he spoke directly to Deborah James who was watching Good Morning Britain on Monday (May 16). The presenter and campaigner had tuned in to the show to watch her You, Me and the Big C podcast co-host Lauren Mahon.

Karren Brady has described the effect that Deborah James' cancer battle has had on her, calling it "profound" as it brought back memories of her own health struggles.The Apprentice star faced the prospect of dying back in 2006 when doctors discovered an aneurysm on her brain.The bulge in one of her blood vessels meant her prognosis gave her a 30% chance of dying.The business magnate says she has been able to empathise with how Deborah must be feeling, who is now receiving end-of-life care as her six-year fight against bowel cancer is nearing an end.The BBC podcast host confessed that she "does not want to die" and can’t fathom not seeing her two children "grow up".In her column for The Sun, Karren wrote: "How I know that feeling. It wasn’t dying that scared me...

Dame Deborah James has hit another milestone with her Bowelbabe Fund, with donations soaring to an eye-watering £6million.The You, Me & The Big C podcast host has admirably raised money towards cancer charities after announcing that her own bowel cancer was now terminal. She is now receiving end-of-life hospice care at home due to her cancer treatment being stopped last week. It has since been a whirlwind few days for the 40-year-old author, who has bravely shared her devastating ordeal with the public, while also receiving a Damehood from Prince William personally, after the Duke of Cambridge paid a visit to her parents’ home in Surrey where she has chosen to die surrounded by loved ones. Now in another development, The Bowelbabe Fund had reached £6m donations as of Sunday morning.

Deborah James' Bowel Babe fundraiser has now reached £6million in less than a week after launching her fundraiser.The 40 year old star, who has been bravely fighting bowel cancer for five years, launched the fundraiser as she wrote a heartbreaking "goodbye" post on Monday 9 May and explained her body "just wasn't playing ball". Deborah, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at age 35, had initially intended to raise £250,000 for Cancer Research UK, but soon surpassed her target as her story struck a chord with people across the country. In less than a week, Deborah's fundraiser has now hit more than £6million and she was even presented with a Damehood by Prince William, who visited her home to award her with the honorary title and have afternoon tea with her and her family.

Deborah James received a Damehood, with Prince William paying a visit to the British TV host’s home to present her with the distinguished honour in person.

Dame Deborah James and her family are staying positive despite the mum-of-two currently receiving end-of-life care. Deborah, 40, announced earlier this week that she was receiving hospice care from her home and penned a heartbreaking “goodbye" post on Monday 9 May, revealing that her body “just wasn’t playing ball”. She then asked for people to donate to her Bowel Babe fund in her honour.

BBC's Deborah James was left is disbelief as Prince William arrived at her house on Friday to award the Bowel Babe with a Damehood after she'd raised more than £5million for Cancer Research.The 41-year-old You, Me And The Big C podcaster recently announced that all further treatment had come to an end as she transferred to hospice care at her parents home.With how long Deborah has left live currently unknown, a visit from the Duke of Cambridge proved to be the needed dose of medicine that the BBC star needed.Her JustGiving page reaching an incredible £5million in donations - with more than 250,000 supporters, Prince William wanted to ensure that Deborah was recognised for her tremendous efforts.Elated that the future King had made a special and personal visit to her home, the star who is battling stage four bowel cancer raced to social media to gush about the whirlwind experience.Sharing some adorable snaps, Deborah can be seen enjoying a glass of fizz with Prince William and her entire family including her husband Seb, brother Ben, sister Sarah, and two children Hugo, 14, and Elosie, 12.Captioning the "surreal" experience, the column writer penned: "Prince William actually came to our family house today!!"I am utterly honoured that he joined us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent a generous amount of time talking to my whole family but also honoured me with my Damehood."It’s quite surreal having a royal pop in at home, and yes you can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale - but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind and he put us all at ease.

The Duke of Cambridge has presented podcast host Deborah James with a damehood at her family home - popping in and enjoying a glass of champagne in the sun. The 40-year-old, known online as Bowel Babe, was honoured for her 'tireless campaigning' to raise awareness of bowel cancer.

The Duke of Cambridge has presented podcast host Deborah James with a damehood at her family home.

Deborah James has shared a series of snaps with Prince William after the Duke of Cambridge visited her at her family home. Earlier today, it was revealed that Deborah - who is tragically dying of bowel cancer - has raised a staggering £5 million in a matter of days for Cancer Research, sparking people to campaign for her to be made a Dame. Sharing photos with the Prince on Instagram, Deborah, 40, gushed over how "surreal" it was to meet the 39 year old Royal.

Deborah James has expressed her delight after receiving a visit in person from Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, as he awarded her Damehood and joined her for afternoon tea and champagne.This week, it was announced that Deborah had been made a Dame after raising millions of pounds for cancer research in her fundraiser, with her latest total surpassing £5million.The podcaster was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, revealing on Monday that she had moved to end-of-life hospice care after her treatment had been stopped.In a post shared on social media, the 40-year-old said she was ‘utterly honoured’ to host Prince William at her family house, saying: ‘He joined us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent a generous amount of time talking to my whole family but also honoured me with my Damehood.’‘It’s quite surreal having a royal pop in at home, and yes you can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale – but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind and he put us all at ease,’ she said.‘He is clearly passionate about improving oncology outcomes as the President of the Royal Marsden. It was such a special day for my whole family, making memories to last a lifetime.

Deborah James, 40, took to Instagram this evening to reveal to her 621,000 followers that Prince William had paid her a visit at home.The BBC podcast host has been honoured with a Damehood after raising an incredible £4million for charity, since breaking the sad news earlier this week that she was receiving end of life care following a long battle with bowel cancer. She wrote: “Prince William actually came to our family house today!! “I am utterly honoured that he joined us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent a generous amount of time talking to my whole family but also honoured me with my Damehood. “It’s quite surreal having a royal pop in at home, and yes you can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale - but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind and he put us all at ease. “He is clearly passionate about improving oncology outcomes as the President of the Royal Marsden. “It was such a special day for my whole family, making memories to last a life time. “He’s welcome back any time!” she added.Deborah also shared the snaps to her story, tagging the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. “Most surreal day ever!” she captioned a picture of William posing with the whole family.In another, William posed beside Deborah and her brother Ben.“My favourite pic of the day - my brother and William!” Deborah wrote. Another picture showed Deborah holding up the special medal she received with her Damehood.“Proud,” she captioned the picture, where she could be seen beaming at the camera. Yesterday, Downing Street announced the news of Deborah’s Damehood in a press release, which stated: "The Queen has been pleased to approve that the honour of Damehood be conferred upon Deborah

Deborah James has reached her target of £5million to raise money for Cancer Research UK after announcing she's moved to end-of-life care.The 40 year old, who has been courageously battling bowel cancer for five years, wrote a heartbreaking “goodbye" post on Monday 9 May, revealing that her body “just wasn’t playing ball”. Mum-of-two Deborah started a Just Giving page in a bid to raise an initial £250,000 for charity, but was blown away when she surpassed the number by millions in just days.

cancer charities this week.Linda shared her thoughts on the prospect of a possible Damehood in view of her 22,600 Twitter followers today. The Nolans star was responding to a tweet from Josephine Wilcox, who shared an article announcing Deborah James’ well-deserved Damehood for her valiant campaigning for bowel cancer awareness.Josephine wrote: “How come you and your sister haven’t got one when you’ve been campaigning for cancer yet other people get one? “Dame Linda and Dame Anne?” she suggested.The Irish singer replied: “No idea, but one reason would be as we’re Irish citizens, the Palace has to ask the Irish Government for permission first!”“More like she's heard how much trouble you lot are,” Graham joked in reference to the Queen, sparking laughter from Linda. In 2006, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a single mastectomy and was later given the all-clear in 2011. However, doctors discovered a form of incurable secondary breast cancer on her pelvis in 2017 and she underwent further radiotherapy.  Anne received her own devastating cancer diagnosis within days of younger sister Linda getting hers and the pair endured chemotherapy together.Their beloved sister Bernadette (Bernie) also tragically died of breast cancer back in 2013 at the age of 52.This year, Linda and Anne teamed up to release their book about living with cancer, entitled Stronger Together: How We're Living While Fighting.Linda, Anne and Bernie were part of Irish musical group The Nolans, which also consisted of sisters Maureen, Denise and Loose Women’s Coleen. You, Me and the Big C presenter Deborah was honoured with her Damehood after breaking the sad news earlier this week that she was receiving end of life care following a long battle

Deborah James has admitted she is "getting more and more sleepy" as she shared a message of thanks to her fans on social media. On Friday (May 13), the podcast host confessed she is finding "life a little harder" in a post to her 623,000 followers on Instagram.

bowel cancer.The BBC podcast host, 40, took to Instagram today to share her reaction with her 621,000 followers.The You, Me and the Big C presenter wrote: “I don’t even know where to start with the overwhelming tears getting in the way. “I’m humbled and blown away that five years of talking about poo can lead to a Damehood! “I feel honoured and shocked that I even got considered,” she admitted.“These last four days of your unwavering support launching the @bowelbabefund to benefit @cr_uk, @royalmarsden and @bowelcanceruk seem like a whirlwind of surreal dreaming when each day I can’t fathom the kindness and generosity. “£4 Million!!! I can simply only give thanks for the wonderful people in the world and say the most heartfelt thank you for your unconditional support not just now but over the years,” she continued.Deborah went on to admit that she was growing tired, but that she was heartened by the “live-saving” chats her campaigning has helped encourage over the years. “As I’m getting more and more sleepy and finding life a little harder, I’ve had more time to think that I’ve never stopped to realise the impact that our podcasting, and talking, and campaigning has had over 5 years,” she wrote.“Small chats really can save lives, small conversations can create ripples far beyond where we might see them, and seeds might grow where we never see their fruits. “And there is something exciting and beautiful in that cycle of life,” Deborah penned. “With this money, hopefully more people will have more time with their loved ones. “Who knows what plants we might grow, but when done with hope we pray that some blossom into game changers for our kids, and many more to come.“Keep loving in kindness, with rebellious hope always,”

Deborah James was left in floods of tears as she responded to the Queen's decision to her a Damehood. Sharing an emotional update on her Instagram page, the 40 year old mum-of-two, who is married to husband Sebastian Bowen, said she was left "humbled" by the honour, and couldn't believe she was even considered for it.

Few can deny they have been moved by Deborah James' heartbreaking revelation that she is now receiving end of life care in light of her terminal bowel cancer.The podcaster told her followers she does not know "how long I've got left" as she said there was nothing more that could be done to save her. But one person for whom the news has hit particularly hard is Kate Middleton, given that she is the same age as Deborah and they are both hands on, devoted mothers to young children.