Princess Diana who was much known for going against the royal tradition, her wedding ring didn’t go with the tradition of the royal family. Let’s look at the story behind the origin of her engagement ring and how it went against the royal tradition.
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A catalogue – ordered ring
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Princess Diana’s now famous ring was made up of a 12-carat sapphire stone with 14 diamonds around it came from a catalogue, as told by Good Housekeeping. It was not custom-made like all the other royal wedding rings before this one, which was allegedly a thorn in the eye for some people because that meant that the ring was purchasable by other people and not as rare.
Princess Diana chose the sapphire-and-diamond ring from a Garrard jewellery collection catalogue. But that’s not the only thing that makes it special, Princess Diana also chose it herself. Which was considered ahead of the team since it was the 1980s. The ring cost Prince Charles $37,000.
The ring took inspiration from Queen Victoria
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Garrard who was the crown jeweller said that the ring was inspired by another royal family member, Queen Victoria. To be specific it was inspired by a sapphire-and-diamond cluster brooch she got from Prince Albert as a present for her wedding in 1840.
The brooch was meant to be her “something blue” on her wedding day and as her will stated the brooch would become a Crown heirloom and that’s the reason Queen Elizabeth has been seen wearing it on some occasions like when Prince William was being christened or when she met President John F. Kennedy.
The meaning of sapphire
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Sapphire aren’t beautiful because of their mesmerizing blue color ever since medieval times it has been said that the gem possesses mythical powers. Those powers are deepening devotion and loyalty, being financial prosperity and stability.
Why the ring was given to Prince William by Prince Harry
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After Princess Diana’s death in 1997 Prince Harry and Prince William went to Kensington Palace to choose a “keepsake”, according to Reader’s Digest. At that time they were only 12 and 15 years old. Prince Harry chose that exact engagement ring while Prince William went for her mother’s Cartier watch.
“They had an agreement that whoever got engaged first would have Diana’s ring,” a source said.
Which means that the ring was given to Prince William by Prince Harry since he was the first propose to his then girlfriend Kate Middleton, back in 2010.
When Prince William proposed to Kate the ring had to be changed a bit since it was too big for her finger. What they did was adding platinum beads which made the ring tighter on her finger. Nowadays the ring is appraised at $500,000.
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When Prince Harry proposed to his girlfriend, Meghan Markle, in 2017 he made Prince Diana a part in their engagement.
While they were conducting their first interview with BBC right after their engagement in 2017 they talked about their relationship so far and their engagement.
“It was so sweet and natural and very romantic,” Markle told the BBC. “He got on one knee.” She couldn’t have given a faster answer. “I could barely let you finish proposing,” Markle told Prince Harry in the interview.
“The ring is obviously yellow gold because that’s Meghan’s favorite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds on either side are from Princess Diana’s jewelry collection, to make sure that she’s with us on this crazy journey together,” Prince Harry said.
“It’s beautiful, and he designed it. It’s incredible,” Markle went on.
Even though Prince Charles spent exactly $37,000 on Princess Diana’s ring, it’s a bit more difficult to appraise Meghan’s ring because, “having diamonds from the royal collection that Princess Diana wore makes the ring priceless,” Michael Fried, CEO of Diamond Pro told Money.
Source: cheatsheet.com
