It is pretty much impossible to imagine the world
famous, 12-carat, sapphire engagement ring Prince William gave to Kate Middleton needing to
be altered in any way. After all, the giant oval-shaped ring features 14 sparkly diamonds in
a halo, and boasts an impressive pedigree, having once belonged to Princess Diana. Her ring was said
to have been inspired by a sapphire and diamond brooch Prince Albert gifted Queen Victoria on
their wedding day all the way back in 1840. Queen Elizabeth reportedly now counts the oversized
pin as part of her collection of jewelry. Meanwhile, the sapphire stone now worn
by Kate is also one of the best celebrity engagement rings of all time, according
to Vogue, alongside Meghan Markle's. It's also worth noting that Kate's engagement
ring is worth an eye-popping $500,000. Since the average amount of cash couples shelled
out for an engagement ring was less than $4,000 in 2020, according to Brides, the Duchess of
Cambridge is sporting an extremely valuable asset.
Prince Harry actually inherited the
gorgeous jewel following his mother's death, and decided to let William propose to Kate with
it. Despite the obvious beauty of Kate's enviable engagement ring, and its storied past, there was
one alteration that absolutely needed to be made, per Hello! Magazine, after the future
King of England proposed in Kenya in 2010. First, it's important to note that Kate
could likely not have been any more touched by the gesture of receiving her departed
mother-in-law's famous ring, with William saying, "It's my mother's engagement ring.
Obviously
she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement in all of this, so this
is my way of keeping her close to it all." "I just hope I look after it." "If she loses it she's in big trouble." “It’s very, very special!” But the engagement ring would never work
for her the way it was when Diana owned it, and there's a totally understandable reason
why Kate had to change something about the seemingly-perfect piece of jewelry William gave
her upon their betrothal.
As Hello! reported, the band of the ring formerly worn by Princess
Diana was a bit too big for the slender Kate, with jeweler G. Collins and Sons taking on
the delicate task of resizing the royal ring. Instead of resoldering the band, the
jeweler decided to add small platinum beads inside so the 18-karat-gold ring
would better fit William's soon-to-be bride. Meanwhile, Elle noted that this is not the first
alteration that has ever been performed on the pricey piece of jewelry. It's believed the ring
used to feature eight prongs, but it now has 14. Diana may have had the adjustment made to protect
the large and very precious stone set inside. In fact, she treasured the impressive ring so
much, royal watchers would see her wearing it long after she and Prince Charles separated,
following their very contentious split.
While it may seem shocking that Kate altered
her engagement ring, her sister-in-law, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex did the exact same thing. Of
course, anyone would have been thrilled to receive the gold trilogy engagement ring Prince Harry
gave his love when they became engaged in 2017. That being said, like Kate, Meghan would change
the band of the impressive engagement ring. The first iteration of the ring
featured a yellow gold band, and despite this being popular with many brides,
Meghan chose to go another route with her ring. As Hello! reported, the Duchess of Sussex altered
the band to feature diamonds, pumping up the bling factor on the 6-carat bauble, which according
to The Knot, is worth an incredible $350,000.
The newly-altered ring was apparently
Harry's idea, as he also commissioned a conflict-free diamond eternity band for Meghan
to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. The new engagement ring first debuted at Trooping
the Colour in 2019. According to Marie Claire, the band was created to pay tribute to the couple
and their son, Archie. The trio's birthstones, peridot, emerald, and sapphire, are incorporated
on the underside of the band. As for whether or not Meghan will alter her ring now that baby
Lilibet Diana is here remains to be seen.
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