Here's the real reason Meghan Markle changed her engagement ring

In the summer of 2019, Meghan Markle's engagement ring made headlines after the Duchess attended the Queen's Trooping the Colour and eagle eyed royal fans noticed that she had changed her ring.

Before, the ring which Prince Harry designed himself featured a central conflict-free diamond sourced from Botswana, where the couple allegedly got secretly engaged, flanked by two smaller diamonds which belonged to Princess Diana.

Harry told the BBC at the time, ‘The ring is obviously yellow gold because that’s Meghan’s favourite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother’s jewellery collection, to make sure that she’s with us on this crazy journey together.’

The three stones were set on a gold band, which has since been upgraded to a diamond eternity band, which fans speculated had been changed at some point between the wedding and baby Archie being born.

Now an extract from new royal biography, Finding Freedom, written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, has shed light on the piece of jewellery.

The book reveals that Prince Harry set it upon himself to upgrade Meghan's engagement ring so it would match the new eternity band he gifted her for their first wedding anniversary, which itself featured a secret message.

'On May 19, 2019, Harry also surprised his wife of one year with the gift of a ring that he had created with jeweller-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz, a favourite of Meghan's. The conflict-free diamond eternity band paid homage to the family of three with Meghan's, Archie's and Harry's birthstones (peridot, emerald, and sapphire, respectively) on the underside of the ring,' we learn.

Jewellery designer Lorraine Schwarts, who also designed Kim Kardashian's engagement ring, told the authors that Harry is 'the loveliest person ever. So romantic, so thoughtful.'

The Prince is thought to have asked Lorraine to also reset Meghan's engagement ring as an extra gift.