Princess Diana<\/a>, who was 20 when she became engaged to Charles, now King Charles III, 77, selected the ring herself from a catalogue at Garrard, the royal jeweller, rather than commissioning a bespoke design. <\/p>\nThe piece \u2013 a 12-carat oval Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds \u2013 was valued at more than $37,000 at the time and was available for public purchase, a detail that set it apart from traditional royal engagement rings. <\/p>\n
Diana wore the ring throughout her marriage and was occasionally seen wearing it after her divorce in 1996.<\/p>\n
\nIn later years, the ring became a defining symbol of Diana\u2019s style and influence. Sara Prentice, creative director at Garrard, has said about the piece: \u201cAll of our designs at Garrard are rooted in our heritage, and we continue to capture the elegant classicism of Princess Diana\u2019s engagement ring in our 1735 jewels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDiana\u2019s choice was seen as unconventional because it departed from the royal preference for custom-made jewellery. <\/p>\n
\nBut the design itself had historical roots. <\/p>\n
\nIt was inspired by a sapphire brooch given to Queen Victoria by her husband in 1840, which was later worn by Queen Elizabeth II. <\/p>\n
\nVictoria is said to have worn the brooch on her wedding day as her \u201csomething blue\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nFollowing Diana\u2019s death in 1997, the ring passed to her younger son, Prince Harry, now 41, who later gave it to his brother, Prince William, now 43, when William proposed to Catherine, Princess of Wales, 44, in 2010. <\/p>\n
\nWilliam spoke about the decision during an interview with ITV. <\/p>\n
\nHe said: \u201cObviously, (Diana\u2019s) not going to be around to share in all the fun and excitement, so this is my way of keeping her close to it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHarry later incorporated elements of Diana\u2019s jewellery into the engagement ring he gave to his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 44. <\/p>\n
\nMeghan said in an interview with the BBC: \u201cIt\u2019s so important to me to know that she\u2019s a part of this with us. It\u2019s incredibly special to be able to have this, which sort of links where (Harry comes) from and Botswana, which is important to us. It\u2019s perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSara Prentice later reflected on Diana\u2019s influence in a separate interview with The Times. <\/p>\n
\nShe said: \u201cPrincess Diana was my muse for this collection, not just because of her Garrard cluster engagement ring, but because of her style, her elegance and her attitude. Diana was a trailblazer and Blaze is modern and bold, just as she was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDiana\u2019s ring has since influenced jewellery design and has been replicated in various collections, with sapphire engagement rings becoming more widely adopted by a series of celebrities.<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20 April 2026 The \u201ccontroversial\u201d story behind Princess Diana\u2019s engagement ring has been revealed. The \u2018controversial\u2019 story behind Princess Diana\u2019s engagement ring has been revealed Now one of the most recognisable pieces of jewellery in the world, it\u2019s been revealed in report by People her band was once considered a major break from royal convention. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":235545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3294,413,245,175,246,134,136,1345,14892],"class_list":{"0":"post-235544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-catherine-princess-of-wales","9":"tag-king-charles-iii","10":"tag-meghan-duchess-of-sussex","11":"tag-prince-harry","12":"tag-prince-william","13":"tag-princess-diana","14":"tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","15":"tag-queen-victoria","16":"tag-sara-prentice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}