Sir Elton John and David Furnish attend funeral of Derek Draper
Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish are attending the funeral of former political lobbyist-turned-psychologist Derek Draper, the husband of Kate Garraway, following his death last month.
The musician had previously invited Draper and Garraway, a Good Morning Britain (GMB) presenter, to be his guests of honour at his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert at London’s O2 Arena last year.
Draper, who fell seriously ill during the early part of the pandemic in March 2020 and spent 13 months in hospital before he was discharged, had attended few public events over the last few years.
He died on January 3 aged 56 after suffering long-lasting symptoms from coronavirus.
Garraway, 56, wearing a long black coat and pearl necklace, followed the coffin and greeted guests ahead of Draper being laid to rest.
GMB stars Charlotte Hawkins, Ben Shephard, Richard Madeley, Alex Beresford, Rob Rinder, Susanna Reid, Sean Fletcher and Richard Arnold also attended the Church of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill, north-west London, on Friday.
Garraway and Draper married at the church in September 2005.
TV presenter Fiona Phillips and This Morning editor Martin Frizell, who both worked on the former ITV morning programme GMTV, and former GMB star Piers Morgan were also in attendance.
Also arriving for the service were former Labour MPs Ed Balls, Lord Peter Mandelson and Tristram Hunt as well as shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair and former Number 10 director of communications Alastair Campbell.
Draper was a former researcher of Lord Mandelson and was a key figure in the early years of New Labour in the 1990s.
Myleene Klass, who has previously stepped in to host Garraway’s Smooth Radio show was also among the mourners.
Journalist Robert Peston, talent manager Jonathan Shalit, former political editor of GMTV and ex-Labour MP Gloria De Piero and former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton also headed into the church.
Garraway, 56, often provided health updates about her husband on the ITV morning programme and fronted two documentaries on the channel about how the family’s life changed following his illness.
The couple had two children, Darcey and Billy.
Draper, who was also an author, was admitted to hospital in December when he had a heart attack.
Garraway announced her husband’s death on Instagram, with a post 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.”
She previously told her Smooth Radio listeners in April 2023 that Sir Elton had been “so supportive to us all over the last three years”.
She also said: “I can’t thank Elton and David enough.”
