Actress Megan Markle shocked the world when she announced her engagement to Prince Harry. The style icon opted for an unusal ring design that stands in stark contrast to sister-in-law Kate Middleton’s sapphire sparkler.
The couple announced their engagement at the Sunken Gardens of Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017, about a year after they went public with their relationship.
Wearing a white overcoat and nude heels, the actress went understated with her outfit to allow the focus to be on her engagement ring. The design did not disappoint.
Decorating her ring finger was a three-stone stunner, set on a gold band featuring a cushion-cut centre diamond from Botswana, a country close to Prince Harry’s heart. Surrounding the centre stone are two round diamonds that once belonged to his mother, the late Princess Diana. The ring was made by royal jeweler Cleave and Company.
Come wedding day, the Duchess of Sessex was presented with her wedding ring, an elegant yellow gold band. The ring was a gift from Queen Elizabeth and, following tradition, was made from rare Welsh gold.
Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, and Princess Diana’s wedding rings were all fashioned from the same nugget of Welsh gold which came from a Welsh mine, Clogau St David’s at Bontddu. This gold is more valuable than gold from Australia or South Africa.
While there is only a sliver of the original gold left over, the Queen owns a large nugget of 21 carat Welsh gold which is held by the Crown Jewellers to be used for the royal wedding rings of today. Sarah, Duchess of York, Duchess Kate, and Duchess Meghan Markle all sport wedding bands made from this nugget.
Markle’s marvelous ring underwent a redesign during her pregnancy. Celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz resized and reset the ring to replace the gold band with a thin, yellow gold band set with micro-pavè diamonds.
After son Archie was born, Prince Harry gifted Megan with an eternity ring designed by Lorraine Schwartz. It features a channel setting with gold trim flanking each side of the ring. In another sweet addition, the birthstones of the young family (peridot, emerald, and sapphire) are inlaid on the underside of the ring.
