Prince Harry's Wedding Ring Differs from Those of Other Royals

last updated 7 October 2021

One of the many royal traditions (opens in new tab) Prince Harry has broken over the years has to do with his wedding ring.
While royal wedding rings are traditionally made of Welsh gold, Harry opted for a modern, platinum ring with a brushed texture finished instead.
Traditionally, royal wedding bands are made from metal gifted by the Queen from her collection of Welsh gold from the Clogau St. David Gold Mine in Dolgellau, Wales (opens in new tab). The tradition dates back to 1923, when Queen Elizabeth's parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, wed.

Prince Harry is a lot of thing (opens in new tab)s, but "royal conformist" is not one of them. Among the many ways Harry has blazed his own royal trail (opens in new tab) is with his wedding ring.

According to Hello! (opens in new tab) magazine (opens in new tab), Harry broke royal tradition (opens in new tab) after his 2018 royal wedding (opens in new tab) to Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) by opting for a modern, platinum wedding band instead of going with the Welsh gold style that men in the British royal family tend to choose—if they decide to wear a wedding ring at all (opens in new tab), that is.

Harry's older brother, Prince William (opens in new tab), and his grandfather, Prince Philip (opens in new tab), famously refuse to wear wedding rings at all. Harry isn't alone in the "Royal Men Who Wear Wedding Bands" club, however. His dad, Prince Charles (opens in new tab), also wears his wedding ring every day. Charles' ring, however, is classic gold—just like every other royal wedding ring, apparently (including Meghan's (opens in new tab) and Will's wife, Kate Middleton's (opens in new tab)).

There's a good reason for the royal marriage tradition (opens in new tab) for Welsh gold wedding bands though: The Queen typically gifts the newlyweds with metal from her personal collection of Welsh gold from the Clogau St. David Gold Mine in Dolgellau, Wales. As Hello! notes, this gift has become even more special in recent years since the mine is no longer in operation.

The tradition of making royal wedding rings from the Clogau St. David Gold Mine gold can be traced back to the Queen's parents (opens in new tab), George VI and the Queen Mother, when they wed in April 1923.

lympstone, united kingdom september 13 embargoed for publication in uk newspapers until 24 hours after create date and time prince harry, duke of sussex seen fiddling with his wedding ring as he visits the royal marines commando training centre on september 13, 2018 in lympstone, england the duke arrived at the centre in a royal navy wildcat maritime attack helicopter for his first visit in his role as captain general royal marines he met with new recruits undergoing training as well as the invictus games racing team photo by max mumbyindigogetty images — Prince Harry, fiddling with his wedding band during a royal engagement in September 2018.

Harry notably showed off his tradition-breaking band during a visit to the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre in September 2018, when photographers snapped some close-up shots of the ring. You can see in those photos that the slender band features a subtle, brushed texture finish.

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commonwealth day service 2020 — (Image credit: Karwai Tang)

March 9, 2020

Meghan and Prince Harry attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey with all of the royal family. Meghan is wearing a custom Emilia Wickstead dress and carrying a Gabriela Hearst Demi bag (opens in new tab); she's also wearing Birks earrings and Aquazzura heels (opens in new tab).

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