The lovely story behind Prince Harry getting Meghan's engagement ring

(Image credit: Getty)

As we found out recently, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might have gotten engaged months before they made the official announcement. The Duke of Sussex designed the engagement ring himself, using a central diamond from Botswana – a country that the newlyweds have visited together.

The two diamonds on either side are from his late mother Princess Diana’s collection. The three jewels were held together by a gold band, which Meghan later changed to a diamond eternity band.

Although we knew the sentimental value of the ring, it seems to have been made all the more special for the time and effort Prince Harry put into creating it.

According to the authors of new biography Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the Prince went on a mission in Africa to source the perfect conflict-free diamond in May 2017, a whole six months before their engagement was officially announced.

The pair wrote, 'Unbeknownst to most, [Harry] already had an engagement ring in the works. That May, Harry travelled alone to Botswana in his role as patron of Rhino Conversation Botswana. While in Africa, he did a little secret diamond scouting with a close friend who helped him to source the perfect conflict-free stone.'

The book also claims Harry and Meghan got engaged on a romantic holiday to Botswana in August 2017, which coincided with the Duchess' birthday as well as their one year anniversary of dating, though the couple haven't confirmed or denied those facts.

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.