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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jennifer Newton

Sophie Wessex lends her support to Deborah James by wearing poignant tribute

The Countess of Wessex has thrown her support behind cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James by wearing a poignant tribute to her.

Sophie and husband Prince Edward visited Gibraltar earlier this week, and Sophie took the opportunity to visit one of the local beaches.

And while there, she teamed a pair of stylish pink shorts with one of Dame Deborah's Rebellious Hope T-shirts for In The Style, which are raising money for the BowelBabe fund.

Dame Deborah, 40, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, but rather than accept her diagnosis that she may have a year to live she battled to make her 40th birthday.

Sophie visited Gibraltar with husband Prince Edward (Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)

She became a celebrated campaigner and known for giving a candid account of her treatment via the You, Me and the Big C Podcast.

In the past month, she has raised almost £6.7million after revealing that her five year battle with bowel cancer was coming to a tragic end after moving to end-of-life care.

However, Sophie's tribute isn't the only royal seal of approval Deborah has received in the past few weeks.

Sophie wore a Rebellious Hope T-shirt, which are raising money for the BowelBabe fund by Dame Deborah James (Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)
Dame Deborah wears one of her T-shirts (Instagram/ @bowelbabe)

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After being awarded a Damehood, Prince William popped to Deborah's home in Surrey to present her with her honour and enjoy a champagne afternoon tea.

Dame Deborah shared images of William's visit and captioned them: "Prince William actually came to our family house today!!

"I am utterly honoured that he joined us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent a generous amount of time talking to my whole family but also honoured me with my Damehood.

Prince William with Dame Deborah James and the rest of her family (Instagram)

"It’s quite surreal having a royal pop in at home, and yes you can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale - but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind and he put us all at ease.

"He is clearly passionate about improving oncology outcomes as the President of the Royal Marsden. It was such a special day for my whole family, making memories to last a lifetime. He’s welcome back any time!"

Deborah’s two children, Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12, also chatted to William during his visit and he reportedly offered them words of advice and guidance.

He later paid tribute to her while on a recent visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

William said: “I love Deborah, she’s fantastic. Her legacy is massive. I was very honoured to be able to speak to her.

“It felt like a very personal family moment that I was there for. It was a glorious day as well. Thank you to you all for what you have done for her. She spoke very highly about her care. It was a touching moment.”

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