Advertisement

Countess of Wessex supports Dame Deborah James by wearing charity T-shirt

Sophie, Countess of Wessex has shown her support to Dame Deborah James, pictured during the Jubilee celebrations on June 5. (Photo by Daniel Leal - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, pictured during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, has shown her support to Dame Deborah James by wearing one of her T-shirts. (Getty Images)

Sophie Countess of Wessex has shown her support to Dame Deborah James by wearing the charity T-shirt the bowel cancer campaigner has designed.

The royal, 57, who is currently on an official tour in Gibraltar, wore one of the bowel cancer campaigner's 'Rebellious Hope' slogan T-shirts during a beach trip with her husband Prince Edward on the second day of the trip.

Dame Deborah, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, revealed last month that she is now in end-of-life hospice care at home, surrounded by her loved ones.

Last month, she launched the £15 T-shirt in collaboration with fashion brand In The Style, with all the proceeds going to the BowelBabe fund.

And now the t-shirt has been given royal approval with the Countess opting to add it to her tour wardrobe.

Stepping out in Gibraltar, the mum-of-two switched her typically glamorous attire for the casual top with the inspiring slogan emblazoned across it.

Read more: Bowel cancer survivor credits Deborah James with helping her cope with diagnosis

Sophie Countess of Wessex has shown her support for Dame Deborah James by wearing her charity T-shirt during a trip to Gibraltar with Prince Edward. (Tim Rooke/Shutterstock)
Sophie Countess of Wessex has shown her support for Dame Deborah James by wearing her charity T-shirt during a trip to Gibraltar with Prince Edward. (Shutterstock)

She added her own styling twist by knotting the bottom of the tee, which she paired with nude-coloured shorts and pumps.

Dame Deborah was thrilled with the royal support and shared a picture of the Countess in the T-shirt to her Instagram stories.

"How great does the Countess of Wessex look in the @inthestyle Rebellious Hope t-shirt for the @bowelbabefund - thank you for the support Sophie! @theroyalfamily," she wrote.

Watch: Dame Deborah James calls for brands to include bowel cancer symptoms on toilet roll

The BowelBabe Fund for Cancer Research UK was set up by Dame Deborah and her family to help fund clinical trials and research into new treatments for cancer patients, all while raising awareness of bowel cancer.

In less than a week, The BowelBabe Fund raised more than £6m in donations, with funds continuing to grow.

As well as designing the charity T-shirt, Dame Deborah has also been working on her own collection with In The Style.

While the main collection isn’t ready yet, Dame Deborah revealed on Instagram that she had already worn one of the dresses when she met Prince William who personally delivered her damehood to her family home.

Read more: Cancer survivor could barely move six months ago, but can now lift own body weight

Earlier this week the You, Me, And The Big C presenter urged big supermarket brands to include bowel cancer symptoms on toilet roll.

Her call for action on ITV's Lorraine comes after retailer Marks and Spencer announced plans to add information on signs of the disease to its packaging.

During Tuesday’s edition of the breakfast show, Dame Deborah appeared to congratulate her friend Cara Hoofe – who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 32 – on successfully pitching the idea of putting symptoms on loo roll wrapping to her employer M&S, to which they agreed.

Read more: Sophie Countess of Wessex takes to dance floor with Judge Rinder in £2,950 dress

Dame Deborah James has launched a charity T-shirt with proceeds going to the Bowelbabe Fund. (Supplied/In The Style)
Dame Deborah James has launched a charity T-shirt with proceeds going to the Bowelbabe Fund. (Supplied/In The Style)

She then urged other retailers to follow M&S lead to help raise awareness about the symptoms of bowel cancer by putting them on toilet rolls.

"I think we should do a big shout out to other companies now saying, like, ‘Where's your signs and symptoms?" she said in a video message.

"Forget about the puppies — I’m bored of the puppies," she continued. "We need actual information signposted on those loo rolls. So I'm hoping that lots of other big brands will now go, ‘Yeah, hang on. This makes massive sense. This is what we need to be doing.’

"So I can't wait to see that happen. And a massive, massive well done to you,” she concluded her message.