The reason Kate Middleton ended up with Princess Diana's engagement ring
Members of the royal family can enjoy many perks, including stunning jewelry, and we don't just mean their fabulous tiaras and crowns. When Prince William, who, by the way, doesn't wear a wedding ring, proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010, he did so with an engagement ring that once belonged to his mother, the late Princess Diana.
When Prince Charles asked Diana to be his wife in 1981, he apparently let her choose her own ring from "a selection from Garrard (the then crown jeweler)," according to Moda. Diana made an unusual choice by opting for a "Ceylon sapphire stone surrounded by diamonds set in white gold." Rumor has it that there were some royals who weren't interested in her decision because the ring was a 'stock item', meaning 'anyone with $ 60,000 at the time could have bought the same ring for themselves".
When the princess passed away in 1997, the ring was passed on to Prince Harry. Yes, Harry, not William. In fact, it was Harry who gave the ring to his brother before the older brother proposed to Kate.
Prince Harry gave Prince William the ring for Kate Middleton
When Princess Diana died, her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, had the opportunity to choose an item of her jewelry to keep. William chose his mother's "Cartier Tank watch," according to the South China Morning Post, while Harry took home the sapphire engagement ring. However, Moda explains that "Harry later decided that the ring should be on the finger of the future Queen of England, so the brothers exchanged relics."
While that may have been the reason, another suggested possibility is that the siblings could have "made a deal where the brother who married first would give the ring to her fiancée." If that were the case, it would make sense for it to "end up on Kate Middleton's finger" since Harry proposed to Meghan Markle seven years after his brother asked the question.
Okay, as SCMP points out, if the brothers hadn't made "the trade, Markle could very well be the one with that sapphire on his finger." Instead, she received a stunning engagement ring, which was designed by Harry himself and features diamonds that were originally part of Princess Diana's collection. So in the end, just like Kate, Meghan received something special that once belonged to her mother-in-law and is surely something she will always treasure.
