The Duke of Cambridge advised the children of the late Dame Deborah James following her death earlier this summer from bowel cancer.
In a new interview talking about his late wife, Sebastien Bowen, told The Times about the day Prince William came to bestow a damehood upon Deborah at home.
He said: “There was the time I opened the door to Prince William, who had come to give Deborah a damehood. He felt like a friend, but he was the future king. That was bizarre. He was so relaxed; he came and sat down in the garden and had champagne with the family. Deborah had a glass of champagne, a glass of wine and a glass of sherry in front of her. She hadn’t been allowed a drink for months and the first thing William said was, ‘I’m glad to see you are triple parked.’ That was an immediate ice-breaker. He’s obviously been through similar grief with the loss of his mother, so he gave powerful advice to the children that will stay with them forever.”
Bowen revealed that the couple only got 24 hours’ notice before William arrived with the honour and that he had to be the one to explain to her what was happening. “She looked at me and said, ‘I’m about to die. What else can possibly go wrong?’” when Bowen told her that William was coming, “We had to manically tidy when I said the Duke of Cambridge might be coming here.”
Prince William presented the damehood to James on 13 May. On 28 June, she sadly lost her battle with bowel cancer, having spent the time from diagnosis to death campaigning on behalf of research and support for others living with the disease.
After her death, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tweeted from their Kensington Palace social media account: “We are so sad to hear the heartbreaking news about Dame Deborah. Our thoughts are with her children, her family and her loved ones.
“Deborah was an inspirational and unfalteringly brave woman whose legacy will live on. W & C”
