Meghan Markle smiling, Deborah James looking bemused
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Deborah James clarifies Meghan Markle comment after backlash

Deborah was forced to clarify that she was joking

Deborah James took to Twitter to clarify a comment she’d made about Meghan Markle on Saturday (June 4).

Deborah, who is receiving end-of-life care for bowel cancer, had joked that she couldn’t die over the Jubilee because Meghan’s appearance at the celebrations would ‘steal her thunder’.

Deborah James in floral dress as she talks on BBC Breakfast
The 40-year-old made a joke about Meghan (Credit: BBC)

Deborah James’ comment about Meghan Markle

On Saturday, Deborah penned an article for The Sun in which she made a joke about the Duchess of Sussex.

The 40-year-old said: “I’m determined not to die over the Jubilee weekend, I don’t want Meghan stealing my thunder.”

Read more: Deborah James makes heartbreaking admission about her final days: ‘Dying is hard’

“I haven’t worked so hard to raise cancer awareness and money to help find a cure, only to miss out on another Sun front page when I go,” she wrote.

Whilst Deborah’s comment was made in jest, it didn’t stop some people from getting offended by it.

“I hope you get to live way beyond the Jubilee weekend. Meghan comment was uncalled for though,” one of her followers said.

Another had wrote: “Lots of really horrible comments about H&M when they have nothing to do with this and have kept a low profile. Making an inappropriate joke about them has allowed the haters to voice their opinions.”

Meghan Markle in a white outfit and hat, walking alongside Prince Harry in a suit, at the Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service
Meghan and Harry were at the Jubilee celebrations (Credit: BBC)

Deborah James addresses Meghan Markle comment

Deborah took to Twitter on Sunday to address the comments she made in her article.

In a tweet for her 104.6k followers, Deborah explained that she was actually joking.

“Megan commment is a joke, apparently you can still find a send-off fun in your day!” she said. “The rest is not.”

“Is dying the last taboo of them all? I thought poo talk was hard, but nagavating end of life care makes checking your poo easy by comparison of DNR chat and respect documents!” she continued.

“Of course it was a joke and it says more about the people that thought it was a true comment than it does about you!!! Don’t justify anything just keep on being you,” one of her followers said in reply.

Deborah James smiling during an appearance on Lorraine
Deborah has opened up about dying (Credit: ITV)

Deborah talks final days

Elsewhere in the same article, Deborah opened up about dying – confessing that it’s “really hard”.

“Dying is really hard, I’ve been consumed by anger this week, in all honesty, I’ve been a real [bleep],” she said.

She then went on to say that she keeps shouting at people and pushing them away.

Read more: Silent Witness: Who is Tom Faulkner? How does he know Nikki? Who plays him?

She said that she doesn’t want the people she loves to see her the way she is and that she doesn’t want to die.

However, she then went on to talk about some small positives – her Bowel Babe charity fund, her new book, and the t-shirts she recently launched.

She explained that dealing with all that is giving her a purpose in her final days.

No Butts: Lorraine Catches Up With Bowel Babe Deborah James | Lorraine

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer