Sophie attends REME ceremony marking corps’ 84th birthday

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attended REME Memorial Day at the Royal British Legion National Remembrance Gardens in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on Thursday, October 1, where the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers marked its 84th birthday and dedicated a new memorial centrepiece. Accounts of the ceremony described Sophie wiping away a tear, but did not establish what prompted her reaction. The centrepiece was made by REME metalsmiths, according to reports of the event. The ceremony honoured the corps, whose members maintain and repair vehicles and equipment used by the British Army. Sophie attended in her capacity as its Colonel-in-Chief, a role she assumed in 2022. The occasion also included the dedication of a regimental memorial. Sophie wore the REME regimental brooch, also known as the REME Sweetheart Brooch, on her blazer. Reports describe it as a piece worn by family members and supporters of soldiers serving in the corps. The tradition of wearing miniature regimental badges is traced in those accounts to World War II, when civilians wore them to show a connection to people serving in the military.