The story behind Kate Middleton's engagement ring will melt your heart
It's quite romantic
It's quite romantic
When Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle, he made sure he created an engagement ring with a special meaning to it, and it turns out he's not the only romantic Royal to do this.
Let's look at the ring Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton with, shall we? Arguably the most famous engagement ring in the world, we all know it was originally Princess Diana's. But do you know why Prince Charles picked that particular ring?
The sapphire surrounded by a cluster of diamonds was one of a few rings Prince Charles picked out for Diana from Royal jewellers House of Garrard, and she immediately fell in love with it.
But the design had a special meaning for Charles because it was inspired by a famous brooch that has been in the Royal family for decades: the one Queen Victoria wore on her wedding day to Prince Albert, which was also designed by the House of Garrard.
Claire Scott, who leads the design team at the jewellers, told The Telegraph, 'Prince Albert commissioned it before his marriage to Victoria in 1840, and presented it to his future bride as a wedding gift. Queen Victoria wore it on her dress when they married, as her "something blue"'.
In the interview he and Kate held after their engagement, Prince William said, 'It’s my mother’s engagement ring, and it’s very special to me, as Kate is very special to me now as well. It was only right the two were put together. It was my way of making sure mother didn’t miss out on today and the excitement and the fact that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.'
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If that doesn't melt your heart, this (unconfirmed mind you) fact will; apparently, both William and Harry got to pick something that was their mother's, and it was Harry who picked the ring, though when he realised how much Kate meant to William, he decided to give it to him.
There's no way of knowing whether this is actually true, but the romantic in me is going with it.
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.
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