Tony Blair and Elton John joined other famous mourners at the funeral of Derek Draper, the husband of television presenter Kate Garraway, in London today.
Draper, a former political adviser and psychotherapist, died last month.
He was said to be one of the UK’s longest-suffering COVID patients after catching the disease in March 2020 and spending 13 months in hospital.
Garraway followed behind the coffin while the procession walked to the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Primrose Hill – where the Good Morning Britain presenter and Draper married in September 2005.
Before laying her husband to rest, she greeted attendees including Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish.
Former prime minister Tony Blair and other Labour contemporaries Alastair Campbell, Lord Peter Mandelson, Ed Balls and Tristram Hunt were also seen entering the church in north London for Draper’s service.
Sir Keir Starmer also attended, as did Garraway’s presenting partners, Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard.
Garraway and Draper have two children together – Darcey and Billy – and celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in September. The presenter previously said on Instagram that she was “so glad” he survived to see it.
A prominent figure in New Labour in the 1990s, Draper worked for Lord Mandelson and set up the Progress organisation with Liam Byrne, who went on to become an MP.
After becoming embroiled in the “cash-for-access” scandal in 1998 – also known as “lobbygate” – Draper travelled to the US and retrained as a psychotherapist.
He launched LabourList, a news website supportive of the Labour Party, in January 2009 and later published a self-help book, Life Support: A Survival Guide for the Modern Soul. He also ran a small psychotherapy practice in Bloomsbury.
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After being diagnosed with coronavirus at the start of the pandemic, Draper was left with extensive damage to his organs and needed daily care.
He was admitted to hospital in December last year when he had a heart attack. Draper died on 3 January.
Garraway announced her husband’s death on Instagram on 5 January, saying: “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.”
Source : Sky News
