Countess of Wessex chooses Zara cape for Remembrance Sunday

Last Sunday was the national service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, attended by senior members of the Royal Family. The Countess of Wessex shared a balcony with Admiral Sir Tim Lawrence, as usual, but other Royals were spread out a many fewer people in attendance due to the pandemic.

Read about The Duchess of Cambridge’s fashion outing here.

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Sophie opted for a cape from Zara, costing £129.99 here. Made from a wool blend, this is a midi length cape, making it quite dramatic. It has a twill look to the fabric; large gold buttons decorate the funnel collar, while slit pockets can be seen on the front. It is a limited edition piece.

I love this piece! Quite unusual to see the Countess go for high-street, especially for a ‘big’ event like this.

She chose a new pillbox hat from Jane Taylor, costing £662 here. It was the ‘Felt Pillbox with Embroidered Feather Trim’. This is the ‘all black’ version, but the milliners does offer it in other colour ways. The Countess wears a hat well!

You can also see that Sophie was wearing a black roll neck jumper – or perhaps a dress – beneath the cape and black leather gloves.

While I love these pieces, I don’t think they go together; the cape feels more everyday, while the hat feels rich and luxurious.

The Countess chose her (unidentified) multi-colour cluster earrings with pearls, and a new Royal British Legion poppy brooch. This was the ‘Returning Home Brooch’ in a gold tone, with a textures jigsaw design on the poppy petals, and a leaf that crosses the stem. The jigsaw pieces represent ‘the journey to re-establish normality upon coming home, piece by piece’.

It costs £29.99 here; all of these brooches come in a keepsake box, each with a story of a serviceman or woman and their return home.

The other badge is a Rifles bugle, the symbol for the battalion (5th) of which Sophie is Colonel in Chief.

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We also got a glimpse of her bag: it was Sophie’s Lulu Guinness poppy clutch, dating back to 2013. The satin bag is a simple pouch with two large embroidered poppies on the front – an ideal piece for Remembrance.

The Countess carried it again on Wednesday for a service at the National Memorial Arboretum.

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We have a few options to mimic this look here:

 

Thanks to @emgcollins for the cape ID