‘So surreal’ Prince William visits Deborah James’ family home to honour her with Damehood

express.co.uk:

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.