Today marks the 45th Anniversary of the Engagement of the Engagement of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, which also marks the 45th Anniversary of the debut of Princess Diana’s iconic Sapphire Engagement Ring, which was given three decades later to her daughter-in-law, the now Princess of Wales!
Composed of a large, faceted oval Ceylon sapphire surrounded by fourteen round diamonds, this ring was made by Garrard and was the largest and most expensive of the selection of rings presented to Lady Diana Spencer following her private engagement. Since the ring was a stock item, it is known that it was bought for £28,500.
The first time the ring was publicly seen was at the engagement photocall of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer outside Buckingham Palace in February 1981, when Lady Diana showed of her engagement ring to the world’s media.
The Princess of Wales wore the Sapphire Ring for the duration of her marriage, and even during the four years of her separation, out of affection for her sons. In September 1995, her first engagement after the divorce was finalized, the Princess still wore her engagement ring on the day Prince William started school at Eton. Two days later, the ring was off, and after her untimely death in 1997, it passed to her sons.
In 2010, Prince William proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Middleton, with his mother’s engagement ring, after carrying it in his backpack around Kenya. At the engagement photocall a few weeks later, he said:
It’s very special to me. As Kate’s very special to me now, it was right to put the two together. It was my way of making sure my 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.”
The Duchess of Cambridge and now Princess of Wales has worn her late mother-in-law’s engagement ring from that day onward, with the exception of a period while she was undergoing cancer treatment, and will no doubt continue to do so for years to come!
