Many people were surprised to learn that there is a royal wedding on the books this spring for Lady Gabriella Windsor, the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Lady Gabriella is 51st in line to the throne, and due to marry financier Thomas Kingston at Windsor Castle this spring, but she will not have access to the Welsh gold that has been in every royal wedding band since 1923.
Express says that the royal tradition of using Welsh gold in all of the royal wedding bands started when then Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, mother of Queen Elizabeth, married the Duke of York, who then became King George VI, on April 26, 1923. Ever since, all of the direct descendants of Queen Elizabeth’s parents have used Welsh gold through a company called Clogau in their rings, but the supply of Welsh gold is running out, and is being limited to only those who are direct descendants of Queen Elizabeth II.
Lady Gabriella Windsor’s father, Prince Michael, who is 47th in line to the throne, is Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin, and, like the queen, he is a grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary.
In a recent documentary, royal expert Robert Jobson was asked about Lady Gabriella using Clogau for her wedding rings, and he said he doubted it.
“I’m not sure Welsh gold applies to distant cousins. There is hardly any left of it.”
If you asked yourself – upon seeing the announcement today of a third Royal wedding – “who is Lady Gabriella Windsor?”, then you’re probably not alone. @chrisshipitv explains who she is https://t.co/xsfsh7gya5 pic.twitter.com/WDLDgKhLG8
— ITV News (@itvnews) September 19, 2018
Welsh gold is rare, and identified by the Welsh dragon stamp and other unique marks that denote a genuine piece of Clogau. It seems that wedding rings for Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, and Princess Diana were the last to use 100 percent Welsh gold, and all of the Mountbatten-Windsor rings used only a portion Welsh gold, including Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.
Express adds that it’s likely that Queen Elizabeth won’t even attend the nuptials of Lady Gabriella Windsor, 37, who is known as Ella, as she is considered a distant relation. Senior members of the royal family will likely attend, but Jobson weighed in to say that the queen doesn’t usually attend weddings other than close family at this point.
Queen Elizabeth did not attend the wedding of Lady Gabriella’s brother, Lord Frederick Windsor, in 2009, and she is choosing not to weigh in on the bride’s choice of a wedding dress or jewelry for the big day. Queen Elizabeth was part of the decision on the wedding dresses of Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, and Princess Eugenie.