Kate Garraway planning first family holiday with kids since Derek Draper’s death

Kate Garraway says she’s going to ‘do something lovely’ this summer with her daughter, Darcey, 18, and son Billy, 14, after the tragic death of their dad, Derek Draper

Kate Garraway has revealed she’s planning her first family holiday since the death of her husband, Derek Draper.

The former spin doctor, 56, died in January, following three years of serious health problems after being hospitalised with Covid in 2020. Kate and Derek’s children, Darcey, 18 and Billy, 14, were seen at their dad’s side during Derek’s final documentary, Derek’s Story, with Darcey later bravely volunteering to be a pallbearer at his funeral.

After a heartbreaking three years, Kate, 56, says she wants to do “something lovely” with her children. However, she admitted any holiday will be “challenging” since losing her beloved husband.

Kate Garraway says she’s going to ‘do something lovely’ this summer with her daughter, Darcey, 18, and son Billy, 14, ( Image: kategarraway/Instagram)

They’ve endured a heartbreaking three years ( Image: kategarraway/Instagram)
Opening up about her summer plans, she told the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards on Sunday: “We will get a family holiday. But it’s going to be a bit challenging because it’s a different kind of family set up that we have now.” Kate continued: “But we will do something lovely,” reports MailOnline.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain back in February, Kate praised her teenage children for the “beautiful” way they handled their final moments with their dying dad. Kate recalled: “It was one of those stop-the-clock moments, where you want the world to stop. It swamps you. We now have 24 hours, [which] turned out to be more of a month, of fighting on and fighting on, following the prognosis that he won’t make it through. For the children when they heard he won’t make it through, they’ve heard it so many times.

She continued: “They were so beautiful, the children, about that. They individually had time with him on his own and Darcey said, ‘If, dad, you can’t do this, it’s okay. Don’t worry about us’. And I had similar conversations, a chance to hold his hand and smell his skin and hold him all the way through, and some people don’t get that. It’s a comfort to know he’s free from pain. We have to pick ourselves up and go on and that’s what Derek did and that’s what we will do.”

Kate documented her husband’s final days in an emotional TV documentary, which aired on ITV following Derek’s sad passing. In the programme, the mum-of-two revealed Derek had just one request for his wife and his children before he slipped into a coma.

She explained how, while sitting in the ambulance with an oxygen mask on before being rushed to hospital, he spoke to his family one last time, expressing one final selfless request. According to Kate, proud dad Derek told Darcey and Billy: “You’re the best children anyone could ask for. Look after mum, be good for her.” This would be the last time Derek saw his two children before going into a coma.