The Duchess of Sussex inherited some of her late mother-in-law's most stunning pieces. Before her tragic death, Princess Diana made it clear that she wanted her stunning collection of jewelry to go to her sons' future wives.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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).
Princess inherited Queen Elizabeth's jewellery
According to Radar Online, Princess Kate is expected to inherit Queen Elizabeth's jewellery collection, estimated to be worth around $110 million (£90.67 million) and has over 300 personal pieces that belonged to the late Queen and not the Crown.
Meghan Markle followed in Princess Kate's footsteps by wearing a tiara straight from Queen Elizabeth's jewelry vault. The bandeau was a present to the then Princess Mary in 1893 by the County of Lincoln on her marriage to Prince George, Duke of York, who would become King George V.
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.
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.
Meghan Markle wanted to wear an Emerald Tiara for her Wedding but she was told that the one she wanted was not available as it had 'unknown Russian origins'. There are several sides to this story and all can be deconstructed and explained.
Under British royal protocol, both Lilibet and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, the couple's 3-year-old son, are entitled to the titles of princess and prince as grandchildren of the sitting U.K. monarch.
When the Duchess of Cornwall became Queen Consort on 9th September 2022, following the death of Her late Majesty, she inherited the largest collection of jewelry in the world—often surmised to be worth in the region of $120 million (£100 million).
So what did Kate Middleton inherit from Queen Elizabeth? Radar Online reported in September 2022 that Kate was expected to inherit $110 million in jewelry from the Queen's personal jewelry collection, which includes 300 pieces that belonged specifically to the Queen and not the Crown.
If tradition prevails, most of the Queen's personal jewels will be passed on to King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It is speculated that Catherine, Princess of Wales will also receive some of the jewels as she will eventually be Queen.
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.
Both Middleton and Meghan Markle inherited jewelry from Princess Diana's collection when they married into the royal family. One of the most well-known pieces that was passed down from one royal to another is Princess Diana's blue sapphire engagement ring, which now belongs to Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton.
The last time this stunning piece was seen in public was the Met Gala in 1996. The beautiful choker is now owned by Prince William and Prince Harry.
“And she said to me, very interestingly, she said to me, 'You've got everything you've ever wanted. You've got all the men in the world falling in love with you, you've got two beautiful children, what more do you want? ' 'I want my husband,' Diana said she replied.
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 not the first time that the Duchess has worn the emerald-cut ring, which was commissioned by Diana from British jewelry brand Asprey in the 1990s and is estimated to be worth a staggering $90,000.
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."
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.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son Prince Archie of Sussex as his officially awarded royal title suggests, inherited part of Queen Elizabeth's wealth.