Princess Diana’s engagement caused controversy at the time

princess diana ring
(Image credit: Getty)

Meghan Markle might have caused a bit of controversy when she changed her engagement ring, but she was by no means the first royal to do so. In fact, when Princess Diana raised a few eyebrows herself when she got engaged to Prince Charles.

At the time, he popped the question sans ring, and let her choose from a selection of rings by Garrard, the royal jeweller.

Diana picked what is now Kate Middleton's engagement ring, a gorgeous sapphire surrounded by diamonds, set on a white gold band.

The reason this was a bit controversial at the time, within the royal family at least, was that it was custom to either propose with an heirloom or a totally bespoke ring.

princess diana ring

(Image credit: Getty)

The Princess actually picked the ring from a catalogue, so it was by no means unique, and in fact anyone else could go and order the exact same ring - if they had the cash of course.

Others also criticised it for its size, implying Diana was after a flashy ring unfit of the royal family.

Regardless if this, Princess Diana loved the ring, and carried on wearing it even after she separated from Prince Charles.

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.