The Princess of Wales Shares Rare Comments About Late Mother-in-Law Princess Diana, Reveals They Wear the Same Ring Size

(Image credit: Getty)

published 29 April 2023

Though the memory of the late Princess Diana is no doubt always present in her home and in her family, the Princess of Wales rarely speaks about the mother-in-law she never knew. But, just in time for her twelfth wedding anniversary with husband Prince William, Kate revealed a beautiful detail about the sapphire and diamond engagement ring that was once Diana’s: In a meant to be, straight out of a movie script detail, Diana and Kate wear the same ring size, so, when William proposed, the ring didn’t even have to be altered to fit Kate’s hand. (Pass the tissues, please.)

During a visit to Wales on Thursday with William, Kate revealed to a well-wisher who asked about her iconic engagement ring that it was not only the “same ring” as Diana’s, but, as she looked down at her hand, Kate remarked that it was “exactly the same—the same size.” (Check out this video shared on Instagram by @all.thats.pretty.)

When William proposed to Kate in 2010, he gave her Diana’s ring to help his mother—who died in a Parisian car accident in 1997 when William was 15 years old—be included in their happiness. On Thursday, Kate shared that she was “honored” to wear the ring, and that Diana would have been a “brilliant” grandmother to her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, per People. “Sadly, I never got to meet her,” Kate said, according to The Daily Mail.

“We miss her every day,” Kate added.

The 18-carat sapphire surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds was chosen by Diana herself after the then Prince Charles proposed in 1981. It was created by British jeweler Garrard and cost £28,000 at the time—worth over £137,000 today. Upon announcing their engagement in November 2010, William said “It is very special to me. It was my way to make sure my mother did not miss out on today and the excitement that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

While previously reported that the ring was originally intended for Prince Harry—and, in a show of support of William and Kate’s marriage, he gifted it to his older brother to propose with—Harry refuted that story in his memoir, Spare, writing that he “never gave Willy that ring because it wasn’t mine to give. He already had it. He’d asked for it after Mummy died, and I’d been more than happy to let it go.”

Happy anniversary to the Prince and Princess of Wales—who marked the occasion today on Instagram in a photo shot by Matt Porteous.

TOPICS

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

Recommended reading

Stay In The Know