Anne Diamond looks delighted as she receives an OBE from King Charles – after being told about the honour on the day of her breast cancer diagnosis
Veteran journalist Anne Diamond has been made an OBE for her services to public health and charity, including her campaigning efforts for research into cot death.
The GB News presenter, 69, received the honour from King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday and proudly posed for pictures after the ceremony.
She looked sensational for the outing, pairing a vibrant jacket with cobalt trousers and a large fascinator.
Anne revealed in June that she received news of the honour on the same day she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Writing in the Daily Mail she said the award was ‘particularly special’ because it was for her cot death campaign of 1991, which she calls her ‘proudest achievement’.
Award: Veteran journalist Anne Diamond has been made an OBE for her services to public health and charity, including her campaigning efforts for research into cot death
Honoured: The GB News presenter, 69, received the honour from King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday and proudly posed for pictures
After her son Sebastian died from sudden infant death syndrome (Sids) – commonly called cot death – in 1990, Anne joined with The Lullaby Trust and the Department of Health to launch the Back to Sleep awareness campaign.
The national media campaign, started in 1991, warned parents that babies should sleep on their backs not their fronts, and has been credited with a reduction in deaths.
Anne began her career in regional news and went on to work for both ITV and the BBC, becoming a star of daytime TV in the 1980s and 1990s.
After being named in the New Year Honours in December, she said: ‘This OBE is literally a crowning achievement to everyone who helped me and upon whose ground-breaking research my campaign was based.
‘This is also testament that the media can be a force for good. By the Government’s own report, 80% of parents who got the life-saving advice got it from the TV ads.
‘But mostly this is for Sebastian, whom we still miss, and all of those tragically lost lives.’
Dame Ann Limb and Tanya Steele were among the other notable names being honoured by King Charles at the investitures ceremony.
Anne revealed in June that she was battling cancer and fought back tears as she discussed the diagnosis on GB News.
She recalled how she was given the news by doctors on the same day she was awarded an OBE and said it had been ‘a hell of a journey’.
Anne had been off air for almost six months prior and said she was still undergoing ‘tough’ treatment for the illness, including radiotherapy.
Chic and cheerful: She looked sensational for the outing, pairing a vibrant jacket with cobalt trousers and a large fascinator
Tragic: After her son Sebastian died from sudden infant death syndrome in 1990, Ms Diamond joined with The Lullaby Trust and the Department of Health to campaign (pictured in 1991)
Discussing her diagnosis, she said: ‘It was a wonderful moment [being told about the OBE] and that was [at] 9.30 in the morning.
‘But I knew then, because I’d already seen my GP, that I had to go to a breast cancer screening thing later in the morning. I thought I would just go for a mammogram, and a couple of tests and I’d be free in an hour.
‘I spent the entire morning at my local hospital where they did everything, biopsies, X-rays, CT scans, a couple of mammograms, everything, and by lunchtime I was still there.
‘And a lovely lady came with a lanyard around her neck that said MacMillan Cancer Care and I knew then it was serious.’
The mother-of-five revealed she is still undergoing ‘tough’ treatment after taking months off work to focus on fighting cancer.
She added: ‘I don’t have any advice for people because I’m still going through it. But I’m well enough to return to work. I had the full works, the full mastectomy.
‘God, this is the first time I’ve talked about it, so it’s quite difficult but I’ve had the full works. The first operation I had was nine hours long.
‘I don’t remember it. I was in and out like that, but nine hours of removal and rebuild, that took a lot of getting over and then I had an operation later where they took out lymph nodes as well, just to make sure they can trace the travel, if the cancer has travelled at all to the rest of the body. Luckily I don’t think it did.
‘I’ve had a load of radiotherapy, which I found very hard too.
‘So it’s been a journey, but I’m not pretending for a minute that I am extraordinary, because I am fully aware that a quarter of women in this country are going through what I’ve just gone through and I don’t have any advice to give. I only have empathy.’
If you have been affected by anything in this article, please contact the UK Child Bereavement line on 0800 02 888 40 or the The Lullaby Trust on 0808 8026868
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF BREAST CANCER?
Around 55,200 people are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year. One in eight women develop the disease during their lifetime.
The illness can cause a number of symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue.
Most breast lumps aren’t cancerous, but it’s always best to have them checked by your doctor.
According to NHS Choices you should also see your GP if you notice any of the following:
- A change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
- Discharge from either of your nipples, which may be streaked with blood
- A lump or swelling in either of your armpits
- Dimpling on the skin of your breasts
- A rash on or around your nipple
- A change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast
Breast pain isn’t usually a symptom of breast cancer.
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