The unexpected link between Meghan Markle and Princess Beatrice’s engagement rings

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding anniversary is coming up, just after Prince William and Kate Middleton celebrated theirs.

So naturally, now's a good time to take another look at Meghan's engagement ring, and what a gorgeous ring it is.

As you'll remember, it features a large central diamond, flanked on either side by diamonds from his late mother Princess Diana’s collection.

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 ring has since been upgraded to a diamond eternity band, to match the Duchess' other rings. What you might not have realised, is that Meghan's ring shares a link to Princess Beatrice's engagement ring.

You see both rings feature ethically sourced diamonds from Botswana. For his bride's engagement and wedding rings. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi enlisted the help of British jewellery Shaun Leane, who helped create the beautiful art deco design (pictured below).

He said at the time that he was thrilled to embark on this journey with the couple, and that the rings were ‘filled with personal and sentimental signifiers for the couple and unique to them’.

Meanwhile, Meghan's ring added sentimental value, as the couple holidayed in Botswana together, and it's rumoured that they got engaged there before announcing it to the world.

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.