In 2019, royal watchers noticed that something had changed with Meghan's engagement ring. Meghan's yellow gold engagement ring band, which Harry said he had chosen because it was her favorite, had been replaced with a thin micro-pavé band.
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.
"Word is the Queen reacted so badly to their decision to leave that she ordered Harry to give back Meghan's wedding band," says an insider. "It was a rash decision made in anger to be fair, but technically the Queen owns it.
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.
Engagement ring – US$350,000
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.
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.
She famously wore the emerald ring for a birthday appearance at the Tate Gallery in July 1997. She also often wore no rings at all during that final year of her life. What is this? More than two decades later, the aquamarine ring reappeared on Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle.
Camilla Parker-Bowles went to the races wearing a brooch given to her by her husband - which he had previously given to Diana, Princess of Wales. The diamond Prince of Wales feathers brooch was modified by Diana to be worn as a necklace. Find this Pin and more on Queen Camilla by Maureen Hart.
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.
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."
In 2019, royal watchers noticed that something had changed with Meghan's engagement ring. Meghan's yellow gold engagement ring band, which Harry said he had chosen because it was her favorite, had been replaced with a thin micro-pavé band.
Royal Inheritance
Representatives told Forbes in 2021 that Harry was not a beneficiary of any of the $100 million left to the royal family by his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother.
It is likely that these jewels will be passed down to members of the Windsor family and if the Queen follows tradition, she will leave the majority of them to the next monarch, which in this case is King Charles III.
According to engagement ring experts, the Princess of Wales removes her ring for "health and safety reasons."
So she essentially wore them for four years more than she needed to, and it was for a very touching reason: it was out of respect for her sons, according to Mail Online.
The Duchess apparently has made some changes to her engagement ring, but they were only minor alterations. She has added platinum beads to the inside of the band in order to adjust the size as the ring was too big and reportedly turned on her finger – and it'd be devastating to lose such a precious ring, after all.
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.
3, 2006 — -- At the time of her death, Princess Diana was wearing a diamond ring given to her by Dodi Al-Fayed, according to a new book by Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell. The $5,000 ring was a friendship ring, not an engagement ring, according to Burrell, who claims the princess was not ready to remarry.
It Was Picked from a Catalog
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.
In Spencer, Diana is horrified (though seemingly unsurprised) to discover her husband gave her the same pearl necklace he gave to his then-mistress, Camilla Parker-Bowles. There's no evidence to suggest this gift-giving snafu ever happened (or that she ate them at the dinner table).
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.
On 22 February, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen would not attend the wedding ceremony, but would attend the church blessing and host the reception afterwards. The reason stated by the palace was the couple wanted to keep the occasion low key.
It is said Meghan Markle now owns the impressive aquamarine ring, which adds to her collection of other jewellery gifted to her by Harry from Princess Diana's royal jewellery collection.
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.
According to The Sun, Meghan had originally wanted to wear the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, also known as the Russian emerald headdress—but was told by the Queen that it would not be appropriate for her to wear that particular crown.