Here are photos from last night’s Festival of Remembrance concert, which is always held the night before Remembrance Sunday (today). I’ll cover the Remembrance Sunday photos tomorrow, but these concert photos deserve their own post. This is the Princess of Wales’s second public outing since the summer, and since her very strange “cancer-free” announcement video in September. The last time we saw her was when she suddenly popped up in Southport with William a month ago. Ol’ girl has been noticeably “refreshed” since then.

Kate usually chooses a conservative black dress or coatdress for this concert, and this year’s appearance was no different. A black coatdress which looks new to me, but who knows. The point wasn’t actually the coatdress, it was the jewelry She wore Princess Diana’s Collingwood pearl earrings, and paired them with a pearl necklace from Monica Vinader (which is part of Kate’s jewelry collection, she didn’t borrow it). She also got to wear her sapphire engagement ring, which has been largely missing this year in various sightings and events.

In recent weeks, there’s been a new emphasis on how Kate is feeling a lot better and she’s preparing to be keen yet again. Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair gave an update just before Kate’s Remembrance appearances:

According to a family friend, the princess, who was photographed in Scotland in August attending a church service with Prince William and the king and queen, is “doing well” and feeling “better than ever.”

“Catherine was committed to attending two key events, Trooping the Colour and Remembrance Sunday, because she knows how important they are both to the king and the nation. She’s doing very well and feeling very strong and positive about the future,” the source told VF.com. “In fact, she and William have enjoyed a couple of low-key visits to Scotland recently without the children, which has been very special time for them.”

Aides say it’s the princess’s intention to return to work full-time when she is ready, and that she is working on her Christmas carol service of thanksgiving, to be held at Westminster Abbey next month, which she also plans to attend with her family.

[From Vanity Fair]

Again, they’ve set it up so people only really expect to see her once a month (with summers off) for the big events. What I would love to know is if this is purely Kate’s call, or if Charles and William want Kate tamped down and largely out of sight from here. Also: Camilla begged off for this event because of her chest infection, so Princess Anne was seated with King Charles.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.