Diana, Princess of Wales, left her stunning sapphire and diamond egagement ring to Harry when she died in 1997. Harry then gave the ring to William, to propose to Kate. Photo / Getty ImagesPrincess Diana’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring is a stunning piece of jewellery.
No one was surprised, therefore, when Prince William used his late mother’s ring to propose to Kate Middleton, but what many don’t know is that the ring actually belonged to Harry.
A new Amazon Prime documentary, The Diana Story, reveals that Diana’s engagement ring was left to Harry when she died in 1997. The documentary goes on to confirm that Harry gave up the ring, allowing William to give it to Kate Middleton when he proposed.
In the revealing doco, Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, confirms that the ring did technically belong to Prince Harry, but he wanted Kate to have it.
Burrell states in the documentary: “Harry said to him: ‘Wouldn’t it be fitting if she had Mummy’s ring?'”
He added: “Then one day that ring will be sat on the throne of England. Harry gave up his precious treasure.
“His one thing he kept from his mother, he gave to his brother. That’s selfless, kind and exactly who Diana was.”
When Harry later met Meghan and decided to propose he no longer had the precious ring, but he was able to honour his mother in a different way.
The ring Harry gave to Meghan is one he designed himself. It has a large central diamond, sourced from Botswana where the pair had travelled together, and, more significantly it features two diamonds from Diana’s collection.
At the time of the engagement announcement Meghan said that the ring ensured Diana was “with us on this crazy journey together”.
She said: “Everything about Harry’s thoughtfulness and the inclusion of Princess Diana’s stones and obviously not being able to meet his mum, it’s so important to me to know that she’s a part of this with us.”
