Kate Middleton made important adjustments to her engagement ring shortly before her wedding to Prince William in 2011. The Duchess of Cambridge altered the famous sapphire piece - which previously belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales - to avoid "a bride's worst nightmare."
Kate Middleton revealed that when she got her engagement ring, which belonged to Princess Diana, she didn't have to get it resized. The royal and her husband, Prince William, visited Wales on Friday 28 April as part of their latest tour of England.
altered her engagement ring, swapping gold for a diamond pavé band. While the ring itself is new, commissioned by Prince Harry from Cleave & Company, who hold a royal warrant for the design, manufacture and supply of insignia, the twin stones sitting either side of the central diamond belonged to Princess Diana.
However, Prince Charles did not have a ring for Princess Diana at the time of proposal. So, she got to choose her own ring, and she decided to pick from a catalog. This stirred some controversy as it wasn't an heirloom or customized piece and wasn't exclusive to the royal family.
According to one jewellery expert, William's decision to give Kate his late mother's ring showed William was sure he had found a match his mother would have approved of.
The yellow gold band has not one but three diamonds: a central rock of three carats from Botswana, where the couple had holidayed together, and two diamonds on either side from Princess Diana's collection. Markle showed off the ring at Kensington Palace when the pair announced their engagement in 2017.
According to Burrell, Harry chose to keep Diana's highly treasured engagement ring as a keepsake and William opted for her Cartier watch. This he repeated in interviews after the ring appeared on the finger of Kate Middleton in 2010, alleging that Harry must have given it to his brother.
Following Diana's death in August 1997, the sapphire ring was inherited by her son Prince Harry, who eventually offered it to his older brother Prince William before he proposed to Kate Middleton with it in 2010.
After the princess' death, most of her personal jewelry was inherited by her two sons Princes William and Harry, with pieces loaned to her during her lifetime being returned to Queen Elizabeth II, where they are most likely to have been inherited by King Charles in 2022.
The late princess continued to wear her engagement ring even after she and Prince Charles divorced in 1996. After her death, Prince William inherited the sapphire sparkler, eventually using it to propose to Kate Middleton in 2010.
The ring reportedly was found in the wreckage of the Mercedes and given to Diana's sisters when they came to Paris to accompany her body back to England.
In their best-selling book the pair reportedly claimed that Prince Harry chose to update the ring because he wanted it to match an equally meaningful gift he gave her that spring for their first wedding anniversary.
Sha was born in 1981, allegedly. When Princess Diana passed away in that 1997 car crash, Sarah feared for her life and fled to the United States. She's lived in New England ever since, allegedly.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl explained that, again, in typical royal fashion, “there is a hierarchy in all of this,” she says. “The Queen Consort, really, gets first choice of the Queen's jewelry. And after that is Princess of Wales, of course, Kate.
According to engagement ring experts, the Princess of Wales removes her ring for "health and safety reasons."
Kate Middleton was engaged to Prince William, a Cambridge Duke, in October 2010 in Kenya. Prince William gives his mother's legacy Saphhire engagement ring to Middleton. This engagement ring has a natural Sapphire as the center stone, while white round cut diamonds are fixed around the framework.
After Diana's tragic death at the age of 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash, her jewelry was inherited by her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. The glittering pieces collected by Diana throughout her married life held enormous sentimental value to both the princess and the princes.
As for why the Queen left Meghan out of her inheritance, Radar Online's source speculated that it could be due to either “practicality” or Harry and Meghan's drama with the British royal family in the years leading up to the Queen's death.
The ring, a gift from Lucia Flecha de Lima, was made by Asprey, and it arrived in Diana's jewelry box around 1996. What is this? That October, she memorably wore the ring with an electric blue Versace gown for a fundraising gala in Sydney, Australia, benefiting the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.
Aquamarine Cocktail Ring
On Meghan's wedding day, she debuted two rings: a simple wedding band made of Welsh gold, and Princess Diana's Aquamarine ring. After the ceremony, Meghan changed to head to her reception at Frogmore House (top) and was first photographed wearing the colorful piece of jewelry.
"It has long been suggested that Diana selected the ring because it reminded her of her mother's engagement ring. An alternate theory suggests that she loved the deep blue hue of the sapphire because it matched the color of her eyes," Kwiat says.
Harry has remained close to his mother Princess Diana's side of the family.
Rach Can Explain Why She Doesn't Wear Her Original Engagement + Wedding Rings | Q Ray & J. "I cook so much and platinum is such a fine metal that it burned my hand and my hand was so scarred, we couldn't hide it with makeup or powder."
Kate, who also became the Duchess of Cornwall following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, opted for Diana's breathtaking pearl and diamond earrings.
Perhaps the most famous piece of jewelry Kate inherited from Princess Diana is this sapphire engagement ring. The ring was created by British jeweler Garrard and chosen by Prince Charles for his proposal to Diana in 1981.