With the ideal ring to match, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s November 2017 engagement was a suitably intimate and romantic event.
In his initial BBC interview about his engagement to Meghan, the Duke of Sussex revealed that he proposed to her while they were spending a quiet evening together and she was roasting a chicken.
Later on in Spare, he would divulge the sweet details of the moment he proposed, including the fact that he had “set electric candles around the blanket” in their walled garden at Nottingham Cottage and had unintentionally popped a bottle of champagne.
He’d “wanted it to look like Botswana, where I’d first thought of proposing” , he stated.
He made an equally deliberate decision when it came to Meghan Markle’s engagement ring, customising it with several historical elements that not only represented his family’s history but also their relationship as a couple.
The design
Unlike his brother Prince William, who famously chose to wear his mother Princess Diana’s well-known diamond and sapphire ring, Prince Harry created the engagement ring himself.
The cushion cut diamond in the ring is supported by two round diamonds and is estimated to weigh between 2.5 and 3 carats. The ring’s main band is made of yellow gold, and the stones are set in white gold.
However, the well-known jewellery item also served as a tribute to his mother because Princess Diana’s personal jewellery collection provided the two round diamond side stones.
Meghan stated that knowing that the late royal was “a part of this with us” was “important” to her.
She continued: “It’s incredibly special to be able to have this, which sort of links where [Harry comes] from and Botswana, which is important to us, it’s perfect.”
The cushion-cut diamond, the focal point of the jewellery, has a deeper connection to the couple’s bond because it was originally from Botswana, where they went on their first vacation together. Harry clarified that he made the decision to propose to her during this holiday.
“It was I think about three, maybe four weeks after our first date that I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana,” said the prince. “And we camped out with each other under the stars … she came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.”
Reportedly his wife’s favourite band, the yellow gold band that the Duke of Sussex chose was from the late Queen Elizabeth’s regular jeweller, Cleave & Company.
How much did it cost
When the couple got married in 2018, David Allen, a 77 Diamonds expert, told HELLO! that “a ring of this size and quality would start at around £50,000 but with the use of the late Princess Diana’s diamonds as side stones, this ring, like Kate’s before it, is of inestimable worth.”
He went on to say: “The last Royal engagement that came with a Trilogy engagement ring was the Countess of Wessex in 1999 to Prince Edward which features a round centre stone and heart shape side stones.”
Why doesn’t the Duchess of Sussex wear her ring anymore
The Duchess of Sussex has chosen not to wear her engagement ring at several public events over the past few years, and astute observers frequently notice when she does not.
Reports from 2023 stated that the Duchess’s ring was sent in for maintenance because the setting had come loose. However, in 2019, PEOPLE learned from a source that Meghan actually prefers to keep her eternity and engagement rings off for special occasions so that meet-and-greets can be more low-key events.
Rather, she has chosen to don a Jennifer Meyer turquoise marquise ring and her Welsh gold wedding ring.
Before and after upgrade
Upon the public debut of Meghan and Harry’s son Archie, a number of astute observers observed that the Duchess had improved the band on her engagement ring. She made her debut wearing the new ring at the Trooping the Colour event in 2019.
A thin micro-pavé band had taken the place of the original Cleave and Company-crafted solid yellow gold band.
It is important to note that the Duchess frequently wears her wedding band—which is significantly thinner than her engagement band—in addition to her engagement ring. Maybe she felt the micro pavé band went better with her wedding ring, which is crafted from rare Clogau Welsh gold.