Any time anything happens to the royals—or the royal jewels—many sharp-eyed fans tend to take notice. Just recently, it happened with Kate Middleton, during her most recent outing with her husband, the Duke of Cambridge, and their only daughter Charlotte. As eye-catching as her elegant white suit was, many fans latched onto the fact that Kate did not wear her engagement ring or her gold wedding band.
She attended the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with her family. Given her regal choice of outfit, the blue engagement ring would have been a stunning accent. And since this engagement has rarely, if never, seen off of her person, many fans wondered, “Where is Kate’s engagement ring?
Engagement Ring From Princess Diana
Is Kate Middleton’s Engagement Ring Princess Diana? Those who may not be familiar with the engagement ring may wonder what the big deal is. But those who do know that there lies so much history in that engagement ring. Kate Middleton engagement ring, as fans now fondly know it to be, actually belonged to another royalty. The deep blue sapphire stone’s first iconic owner was none other than Princess Diana.
Princess Diana herself was already the center of attraction and controversy when she was alive. And the way she landed on this engagement ring is one of them. Instead of following tradition by choosing a jewelry piece from the Queen’s collection for her engagement ring, Diana chose the sapphire ring herself for her engagement with Prince Charles.
Back in 1981, the style of Kate Middleton engagement ring was far from the typical. The 12-carat blue sapphire held a very deep blue hue and a symmetrical oval cut. It also featured 14 smaller diamonds that surrounded it in halo fashion. All of these are set in a beautiful thin gold band. By today’s standards, it still shines as among the most beautiful and iconic designs among personalities.
How Much is Kate Middleton Engagement Ring Worth?
Because of the buzz of the missing ring, the search for everything about Kate Middleton engagement ring has skyrocketed.
Historically, the ring cost £28,000 when Prince Charles bought it for Princess Diana in 1981. Now, it may be priced somewhere between £300,000 to £400,000. Add the history behind the ring, and it may be among the most priceless engagement rings around.
So What Really Happened?
While the Duchess of Cambridge offered no explanation—as she obviously did not owe one to anyone—some fans and experts have weighed in on the missing engagement ring. The Commonwealth games wasn’t the first event where she removed the ring. Just a few days earlier, Kate attended another event involving sailing.
Due to the nature of the sport, she had to remove the engagement ring to participate in the sporting event. Even during this sailing event, Kate also removed the eternity ring on the same finger.
Even before these sporting events, there have been some situations where she removed the ring from her finger. Since the pandemic started, many people also experienced the conflict of wearing rings and other jewelry pieces when going out. Between having to constantly disinfect and having a possible artifact for contamination and infection, it’s almost inconvenient to wear jewelry.
And Kate Middleton is no exception. She has been seen without the engagement ring when visiting hospitals. With sporting events, it’s much safer to leave these valuable jewelry pieces rather than remove them while in an outdoor event. This minimizes instances of possible losing such a cherished jewelry piece.
Sources like Hello magazine even spotted that the most accessories that Kate matched her white ensemble were some silver pieces by Mappin & Webb. These may hold less sentiment for the duchess and may be relatively safer to wear as they don’t become burdensome while doing more active activities.
Other fans also speculated that it’s possible the ring may be in repair, but this seemed less likely. Considering the value of these rings for Kate, it’s not impossible to properly schedule the repair before the event.
How Many Carats is Kate’s Ring?
To an extent, wearing the blue sapphire engagement ring for everyday occasions can also be that convenient. The ring bears a whopping 12 carats for the sapphire alone. Then there are the small solitaire diamonds surrounding the main gem.
The legendary sapphire engagement ring has undergone some changes not just in terms of owners, but also with its design. Even Princess Diana before had changed the setting of the stone, adding more prongs to ensure that the Ceylon sapphire will be secured with 14 prongs in total.
When the ring changed hands, the duchess allegedly made minor alterations for a better fit. Some experts noted that she had added platinum beads on the inside of the band. Even with the thin band, this can be barely seen. These alterations allowed the ring to have a better, more snug fit, as Diana’s version of it was a little bigger than Kate’s ring size.
This isn’t the first nor will it be the last popular engagement ring to be altered. Check out this list of celebrity and personality rings that received alterations for their designs in our article, “Ring Redux: Celebrities Who Redesigned Their Engagement Rings.”
