Pop Culture
Princess Kate’s Engagement Ring: Everything to Know
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Keeping it in the family. When Prince William proposed to Princess Kate while on a trip to Africa in 2010, he did so with his late mother’s sapphire engagement ring.
“I had been carrying it around with me in my rucksack for about three weeks” while on the couple’s trip to Kenya with friends, the Prince of Wales told ITV in his and Kate’s engagement interview. “I literally would not let it go, everywhere I went I was keeping hold of it, ’cause I knew this thing … if it disappeared I’d be in a lot of trouble.”
The future king pointed out the sentimental value of the bauble — and how it makes him feel connected to Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in August 1997 when William was 15.
“I thought it was quite nice because obviously, she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all — this was my way of keeping her sort of close to it all,” the Earthshot Prize cofounder said at the time.
Kate, for her part, agreed with her now-husband’s remarks.
“Well, I just hope I look after it,” she admitted, calling the jewelry “very, very special.”
Despite the frequent comparisons of Kate and the late royal, “No one is trying to fill my mother’s shoes,” William stated in the interview. “It’s about carving your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job at that.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall tied the knot one year later, with Diana’s ring — as well as a Welsh gold wedding band — on Kate’s left hand. In the years following their 2012 nuptials, William and Kate soon expanded their family to five with the births of their three children: Prince George, born in 2013, Princess Charlotte, born in 2015, and Prince Louis, born in 2018.
While the Berkshire, U.K. native has frequently paid tribute to Diana through her jewelry — her brother, James Middleton, even proposed to his future wife, Alizee Thevenet, with a nearly identical sparkler in 2019 — no heirloom has caused as much envy as her 12-carat engagement ring, which boasts 12 diamonds around the Ceylon sapphire.
As for Diana’s own thoughts on the ring, The Crown researcher Annie Sulzberger told Vogue in 2020 that there are conflicting theories “as to why Diana selected the ring,” listing several options: “The color matched her eyes, the queen may have actually selected it, or as Diana was later quoted as saying, ‘It was the biggest.’” Another option? “Others claim that it simply reminded her of her mother’s engagement ring.”
Keep scrolling to learn everything about Princess Kate’s engagement ring:
Keeping it in the family. When Prince William proposed to Princess Kate while on a trip to Africa in 2010, he did so with his late mother’s sapphire engagement ring.
“I had been carrying it around with me in my rucksack for about three weeks” while on the couple’s trip to Kenya with friends, the Prince of Wales told ITV in his and Kate’s engagement interview. “I literally would not let it go, everywhere I went I was keeping hold of it, ’cause I knew this thing … if it disappeared I’d be in a lot of trouble.”
The future king pointed out the sentimental value of the bauble — and how it makes him feel connected to Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in August 1997 when William was 15.
“I thought it was quite nice because obviously, she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all — this was my way of keeping her sort of close to it all,” the Earthshot Prize cofounder said at the time.
Kate, for her part, agreed with her now-husband’s remarks.
“Well, I just hope I look after it,” she admitted, calling the jewelry “very, very special.”
Despite the frequent comparisons of Kate and the late royal, “No one is trying to fill my mother’s shoes,” William stated in the interview. “It’s about carving your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job at that.”
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The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall tied the knot one year later, with Diana’s ring — as well as a Welsh gold wedding band — on Kate’s left hand. In the years following their 2012 nuptials, William and Kate soon expanded their family to five with the births of their three children: Prince George, born in 2013, Princess Charlotte, born in 2015, and Prince Louis, born in 2018.
While the Berkshire, U.K. native has frequently paid tribute to Diana through her jewelry — her brother, James Middleton, even proposed to his future wife, Alizee Thevenet, with a nearly identical sparkler in 2019 — no heirloom has caused as much envy as her 12-carat engagement ring, which boasts 12 diamonds around the Ceylon sapphire.
As for Diana’s own thoughts on the ring, The Crown researcher Annie Sulzberger told Vogue in 2020 that there are conflicting theories “as to why Diana selected the ring,” listing several options: “The color matched her eyes, the queen may have actually selected it, or as Diana was later quoted as saying, ‘It was the biggest.’” Another option? “Others claim that it simply reminded her of her mother’s engagement ring.”
Keep scrolling to learn everything about Princess Kate’s engagement ring:
Credit: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
What Is the Princess Diana Connection?
Kate’s engagement ring was her late mother-in-law’s, who showed off her bauble from King Charles III in February 1981 when announcing their engagement. The couple tied the knot in July of that year and divorced 15 years later. Diana died in a car accident in August 1997, one year after her divorce from the king.
Credit: Justin Lane/EPA/Shutterstock
What Stones Are Featured in the Design?
The standout accessory features a deep blue Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds.
Credit: Frank Franklin/AP/Shutterstock
How Many Carats Is the Ring?
The princess’ ring is a whopping 12 carats.
Credit: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/Shutterstock
How Did William Propose to Kate?
William popped the question to his wife while on a trip to Africa with friends in 2010.
Credit: Sang Tan/AP/Shutterstock
What Have William and Kate Said About the Ring?
In William and Kate’s engagement interview with ITV in 2010, the prince revealed that he “had been carrying it [the ring] around with me in my rucksack for about three weeks” while in Africa. “I literally would not let it go, everywhere I went I was keeping hold of it, ’cause I knew this thing … if it disappeared I’d be in a lot of trouble,” he joked.
He added: “It’s my mother’s engagement ring so, I thought it was quite nice because obviously, she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all — this was my way of keeping her sort of close to it all.”
Kate remarked that the jewelry was “very, very special.”
Credit: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock
What Did Diana Say About the Ring?
As Annie Sulzberger, the “head of research” on the hit series The Crown, told Vogue in 2020, “There are a few different theories as to why Diana selected the ring: the color matched her eyes, the queen may have actually selected it, or as Diana was later quoted as saying, ‘It was the biggest.’” Still, she added, “Others claim that it simply reminded her of her mother’s engagement ring.”
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Michelle McGahan
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