It is pretty much impossible to imagine the world famous, 12-carat, sapphire engagement ring Prince
William gave to Kate Middleton needing to be altered in any way. After all, the giant
oval-shaped ring features 14 sparkly diamonds in a halo, and boasts an impressive pedigree, having
once belonged to Princess Diana. Her ring was said to have been inspired by a sapphire and diamond
brooch Prince Albert gifted Queen Victoria on their wedding day all the way back in 1840. Queen
Elizabeth reportedly now counts the oversized pin as part of her collection of jewelry.
Meanwhile, the sapphire stone now worn by Kate is also one of the best celebrity
engagement rings of all time, according to Vogue, alongside Meghan Markle's. It's
also worth noting that Kate's engagement ring is worth an eye-popping $500,000.
Since the average amount of cash couples shelled out for an engagement ring was less than $4,000
in 2020, according to Brides, the Duchess of Cambridge is sporting an extremely valuable asset.
Prince Harry actually inherited the gorgeous jewel following his mother's death,
and decided to let William propose to Kate with it. Despite the obvious beauty of Kate's enviable
engagement ring, and its storied past, there was one alteration that absolutely needed to be made,
per Hello! Magazine, after the future King of England proposed in Kenya in 2010.
First, it's important to note that Kate could likely not have been any more
touched by the gesture of receiving her departed mother-in-law's famous ring, with William saying,
"It's my mother's engagement ring. Obviously she's not going to be around to share any of
the fun and excitement in all of this, so this is my way of keeping her close to it all."
"I just hope I look after it."
"If she loses it she's in big trouble."
“It’s very, very special!”
But the engagement ring would never work for her the way it was when Diana owned it,
and there's a totally understandable reason why Kate had to change something about the
seemingly-perfect piece of jewelry William gave her upon their betrothal. As Hello! reported,
the band of the ring formerly worn by Princess Diana was a bit too big for the slender Kate,
with jeweler G. Collins and Sons taking on the delicate task of resizing the royal ring.
Instead of resoldering the band, the jeweler decided to add small platinum
beads inside so the 18-karat-gold ring would better fit William's soon-to-be bride.
Meanwhile, Elle noted that this is not the first alteration that has ever been performed on the
pricey piece of jewelry. It's believed the ring used to feature eight prongs, but it now has 14.
Diana may have had the adjustment made to protect the large and very precious stone set inside.
In fact, she treasured the impressive ring so much, royal watchers would see her wearing it
long after she and Prince Charles separated, following their very contentious split.
While it may seem shocking that Kate altered her engagement ring, her sister-in-law, Meghan,
the Duchess of Sussex did the exact same thing. Of course, anyone would have been thrilled to receive
the gold trilogy engagement ring Prince Harry gave his love when they became engaged in 2017.
That being said, like Kate, Meghan would change the band of the impressive engagement ring.
The first iteration of the ring featured a yellow gold band,
and despite this being popular with many brides, Meghan chose to go another route with her ring.
As Hello! reported, the Duchess of Sussex altered the band to feature diamonds, pumping up the bling
factor on the 6-carat bauble, which according to The Knot, is worth an incredible $350,000.
The newly-altered ring was apparently Harry's idea, as he also commissioned a
conflict-free diamond eternity band for Meghan to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
The new engagement ring first debuted at Trooping the Colour in 2019. According to Marie Claire,
the band was created to pay tribute to the couple and their son, Archie.
The trio's birthstones, peridot, emerald, and sapphire, are incorporated on the underside of the band.
As for whether or not Meghan will alter her ring now that baby Lilibet Diana is here remains to be seen.
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