Kate Middleton’s engagement ring is the piece of royal jewelry that awakens the most nostalgia for everyone who loved Kate’s mother-in-law, Princess Diana.
As the ring that thrilled the world when Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer announced their engagement, the sapphire-and-diamond jewel still carries enormous meaning for millions of fans around the world and for Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
The famous engagement ring was really the only choice for Prince William when he proposed to Kate Middleton. When royal family followers saw the iconic sapphire on Kate’s engagement finger, there was a sense that at last there would be some romantic happiness in the beleaguered royal family.
William and Harry had an agreement that whoever got engaged first would be the one to claim Diana’s ring, even though Harry had chosen the ring to keep in memory of his mother after her tragic death in 1997.
The Independent wrote that with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement announcement expected at any moment, Harry might be looking back wistfully at the moment he handed over Diana’s ring.
Whatever his personal feeling about it, both Prince Harry and Prince William understood that as wife to the heir to the British throne, the ring belongs with Kate Middleton.
It’s important to both princes to continue to honor their late mother in many ways, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly planning to do just that when they choose an engagement ring.
Diana owned several pieces of jewelry, and although Prince Harry won’t be able to offer his mother’s own engagement ring to his fiancee, he’ll have plenty to choose from anyway. According to Harpers Bazaar, Prince Harry is said to be planning to transform one of Diana’s jewels into an engagement ring for Meghan Markle .
It’s a family tradition to choose an engagement ring from the royal collection. Before Prince William gave Diana’s engagement ring to Kate Middleton to seal their romance, Prince Philip chose stones from his own mother’s tiara to create a ring for Queen Elizabeth. When Charles married Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall, he gave her a ring from the Queen Mother’s collection.
The Mirror wrote that engagement rings aren’t the only jewelry that the young royals wear in honor of Princess Diana . Before her engagement to Charles, the young Lady Diana often wore a simple gold pendant with her initial on it. When Prince William was born, Charles gave Diana a similar pendant on a gold chain. The pendant had “William” engraved in flowing handwriting and Diana loved to wear it “close to her heart.”
After Prince George’s birth, Pippa Middleton made a point of remembering Diana’s penchant for simple family-themed jewelry and “meaningful charms” when she chose a gift for her sister, Kate. Pippa gave Kate a three-charm gold necklace with a tiny boy baby, a heart with a “W” for William, and a disc engraved with George’s full name.
If Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take the next step, Harry will almost definitely choose one of Princess Diana’s jewels to make an engagement ring for Meghan. If Meghan joins the royal family, she and Kate Middleton will both wear jewels that commemorate William and Harry’s mother as fans continue to mourn Princess Diana’s death and honor her legacy.
[Featured Image by Adam Pretty/Getty Images]