Deborah James has revealed that she has had to say goodbye to her beloved brother Ben.
The cancer campaigner is receiving end-of-life care after a brave battle with bowel cancer.
Surrounded by her family, Deborah has moved in with her parents in Woking, with her brother and his new fiancée Ashley among the regular visitors.
Deborah James says ‘hardest goodbye’ to her brother Ben
However, speaking to The Sun, Deborah revealed that the time came to say goodbye to Ben over the weekend, before he headed off to the States.
Selfless Deborah told the couple that they shouldn’t cancel their holiday, nor should he fly home should she take a turn for the worse.
I also told him he must not come back, under any circumstances.
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“He’s off on holiday to the US. I have told him they have to go, they’ve planned the trip for ages. I also told him he must not come back, under any circumstances,” she said.
Speaking ahead of their farewell, Deborah added: “He says he’ll come home. It’ll be horrible saying goodbye to him. I can’t really think about it right now.”
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Prince William plays a part in Ben’s proposal
Of course, Ben was on hand to meet Prince William when he awarded Deborah with her damehood recently.
And Deborah revealed that William had a hand in Ben finally proposing to girlfriend of 11 years, Ashley.
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Deborah revealed that Ben and Ashley had gotten engaged as she declared that he had “finally put a ring on it”.
She explained that a lot of “brother banter” features highly on her Instagram page, including a joke that Ben is Prince William’s doppelgänger.
As a result, William “got in on the action recently”, with the pair posing together – much to Deborah’s delight.
She said the question to her brother was always “why haven’t you proposed?”.
‘It breaks my heart’
However, now that he has an emotional Deborah has had to accept the fact that she won’t see him tie the knot.
Nor will she see him become a father.
“My brother will be the most amazing dad. I am so pleased he is engaged, I love Ashley and they are so happy together. It breaks my heart that I won’t see their kids, or see the dad he will be,” she said.
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