Prince Harry inherited Princess Diana's engagement ring, but let Kate Middleton wear it
We all know that when Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton, his current wife, he did so with the engagement ring of his late mother, Princess Diana. However, what many do not know is that his younger brother, Prince Harry, was the one who first inherited the ring.
This information was revealed in a documentary about the royal family. A former butler who worked for Princess Diana said that Prince Harry offered the ring "selflessly" to his brother, to make the marriage proposal for him.
This is the documentary "The Diana Story", which was published by Amazon Prime last September. Paul Burrell, Diana's former butler, confirmed that Prince Harry was the one who originally inherited the late princess's engagement ring. According to The Sun, Prince Harry was told to take some of his late mother's jewelry after she passed away in 1997. One of the jewelry he chose was the iconic sapphire ring, valued at $ 400,000. .
In 2010, when Prince William revealed that he planned to propose to his then-girlfriend Kate Middleton, his younger brother offered the ring as a tribute to his mother.
"Harry said to him, 'Wouldn't it be nice if he was wearing Mom's ring?'" Mr. Burrell revealed in the documentary. The former butler said Prince Harry's "selfless" action underscores the qualities with which Diana raised her children.
"Then one day that ring will be sitting on the throne of England. Harry parted with his precious treasure," Burrell insisted. "The only thing she had left of his mother, he gave to his brother. It was a kind and altruistic action, which exactly reflected the way of being of Diana."
Prince William proposed to Kate in 2010, while on vacation in Kenya. According to the Duchess, the proposal was a great surprise. "He's a real romantic, and we had a wonderful vacation in Africa. It happened in a very quiet cabin, and it was a very romantic and intimate moment for both of us," Kate told ITV at the time, according to ABC News.
According to Prince William, her late mother "did not miss" the special moment when he proposed to Kate, because she did so with her engagement ring. "Well, as you can now recognize, it was my mother's engagement ring. It's very special to me, in the same way that Kate is very special to me now. It was perfect that she put it on," William said at the time. .
Kate Middleton became the proud new owner of the beautiful ring, so Prince Harry had to get creative when it came time to propose to his own wife, Meghan Markle. Harry opted to design his own piece of jewelry, to which he added a bit of emotion. According to The Sun, the yellow gold ring features a center stone from Botswana, a country that Harry and Meghan have fond memories of, and it also features two smaller diamonds from Diana's collection.
The prince proposed to Meghan in November 2017, while they were enjoying a chicken dinner at Kensington Palace. Referring to the ring, Meghan said it meant that Diana "was with us on this crazy adventure." At that time, Meghan expressed the following: "Everything revolves around the consideration that Harry had, when including the gems of Princess Diana, since obviously she was not going to be able to be physically with us. For me it is very important to know that she is part of all this. "
While the sapphire engagement ring is highly iconic, the truth is that it sparked a lot of controversy when Prince Charles's engagement to Diana was first announced. When the couple went public with their engagement on February 24, 1981, they also unveiled the ring for the first time, which featured a 12-karat oval Ceylon sapphire stone, surrounded by 14 separate diamonds set on 18-karat white gold. At the time, the ring was said to have cost Prince Charles a whopping $ 60,000. Today it is estimated to be worth up to $ 500,000, according to Oprah Mag.
According to Princess Diana's biographical book, Diana: Her True Story - in Her Own Words, Prince Charles had initially proposed to her without any rings. "He said, 'Will you marry me?' and I laughed, "revealed Diana in the book, written by journalist Andrew Morton. "I remember thinking it was a joke, so I said, 'Yeah, it's okay,' and I laughed. But it seems like he was serious," she added.
Not having a ring for her, Prince Charles asked Diana to choose one from a collection of designs by then-Crown jeweler Gerrard. It was then that Diana chose the iconic sapphire piece. Her choice, however, did not sit well with the royal family. Royals did not make it a rule to wear jewelry that had not been custom made, much less that it was available for purchase to the public. It is unclear why Diana chose that piece. Some say it was because she had the biggest stone, but others think she reminded him of her mother's engagement ring.
In any case, she liked that ring so much that she continued to wear it even after divorcing Prince Charles.
