The future king and queen delighted royal fans around the world in 2010 when they announced their engagement after being in a relationship since their university days. Kate showed off the 18-carat sapphire ring on her left hand as she posed alongside her husband to be in front of the world’s media. But it has now been revealed Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle could have been given the ring instead.
Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell revealed that after Diana died in 1997, her two sons were allowed to keep an item that belonged to her.
In Amazon Prime’s The Diana Story documentary, Paul recalled that William said: “I’d like mummy’s Cartier watch, the one that Grandpa Spencer gave to her for her 21st birthday.”
He also claimed Harry was the one who wanted to keep the engagement ring as it had sentimental value, but let William keep it instead.
Mr Burrell added Harry had said: “I remember when I held mummy’s hand when I was a small boy and that ring always hurt me because it was so big.”
During their engagement interview 10 years ago, William said the ring was a way for him to keep his mother close.
He said: “Obviously, she’s not going be around to share in all the fun and excitement, so this is my way of keeping her close to it all.”
William proposed a few weeks before the interview while the couple were on holiday in Kenya with friends.
He added: “As every guy out there will know, it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going.
READ MORE: Kate Middleton’s engagement ring from Prince William is ‘priceless’
Her special ring was made up of multiple diamonds, with each one was specially selected by the Prince.
The central diamond was from Botswana, where the couple previously went on one of their first holidays together.
The other two diamonds were from his Diana’s personal collection.
At the time of Princess Diana’s engagement in the early 80s, the ring cost £28,000.
These days, experts have placed the value at around £300,000-400,000.
However, other experts have said it is priceless given its history.
Annie Sulzberger, The Crown’s head of research, added Diana’s choice of ring may not have been approved by other royals at first.
She said: “Elizabeth is said to have raised her eyebrows at the choice.
“There are a few different theories as to why Diana selected the ring: the colour matched her eyes, the Queen may have actually selected it, or as Diana was later quoted as saying, ‘It was the biggest.’
“Others claim that it simply reminded her of her mother’s engagement ring,”
