Prince Charles gave Princess Diana this ring just before their wedding

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Charles gave Princess Diana a very touching gift the night before their wedding: a signet ring.

According to Andrew Morton's book, Diana: In Her Own Words, the Prince wanted to make sure he knew how much he appreciate his future wife.

So he sent her the gift to Clarence House, where she was staying before the big day on 29th July 1981.

She is believed to have said at the time, 'He sent me a very nice signet ring the night before to Clarence House, with the Prince of Wales feathers on and a very nice card that said: "I'm so proud of you and when you come up I'll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look 'em in the eye and knock 'em dead."'

It has since been reported that despite the gesture, Princess Diana didn't want to go through with it, after Prince Charles told her he didn't love her the night before the wedding.

He apparently wanted to be honest with her, so that she didn't enter the marriage under false pretences.

Diana is said to have 'sobbed her eyes out' but went on to wed the heir to the throne, and had two sons with him before their separation a few years later.

She was known for wearing pieces of jewellery that had sentimental value to her, such as the two watches she wore to a polo game, and a bracelet with charms which was another gift from her husband and featured initials and charms including a miniature version of St Paul's Cathedral, where the couple married.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.