Royal wedding alert activated!
With the announcement of Princess Beatrice of York's impending marriage to property tycoon, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, royal discussion about romance becomes exciting once again, This royal wedding euphoria extended to the talks of engagement rings worn by previous royal brides.
Princess Beatrice excitedly showed off her elegant engagement ring, a round cut diamond in a platinum band surrounded with four baguette-cut diamonds. It looks simple, yet oozing with elegance and splendor. The design itself has a sentimental attachment. It is reminiscent to Beatrice's grandmother, the Queen's engagement ring.
This made me go back in time and made some research about the most iconic, elegant, splendid and glamorous engagement rings worn by royal brides.
1. Diana's Ceylon Blue Sapphire
Perhaps, the most iconic and the most popular royal engagement ring was the one worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. The 12-carat oval-shaped Ceylon blue sapphire set in a platinum band and surrounded with 14 solitaire diamonds. It was one of the largest stones ever seen for an engagement ring.
But what made the ring very intriguing was the fact that it was not presented by Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer the night he proposed for marriage. This made the story quite controversial, prompting observers to speculate that the Prince of Wales never loved his bride at all.
Diana wore the engagement ring even after her divorce from Charles
Charles reportedly apologized to then Lady Diana Spencer and promised to give her one in the coming days. A week later (or days perhaps), the crown jeweler, Garrad & Co came to Buckingham Palace with a box of rings for Diana to choose.
The future Princess of Wales picked the largest stone. It became Diana's favorite piece of jewelry. She was known to have worn it everyday in her life even after her divorce from Prince Charles
In 2010, when Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton, he offered her the ring of his mother to show how much he wanted her mother's memory to be part in the new chapter of his life.
2. Mary's Patriotic Diamond and Ruby Ring
When it was time for Prince Frederick of Denmark to propose to Mary Donaldson, an Australian marketing executive, he thought nothing but his beloved country, He chose a unique design for the ring, an emerald-cut diamond in the center flanked by two rubies. It signifies the flag of Denmark.
Mary is one of the fewest royal brides who made changes in the design of the engagement ring after the wedding. She altered the ring and added some diamonds on the design. She still wearing it until now together with her wedding ring.
3. Grace Kelly's glamorous cartier ring
Prince Rainier III of Monaco chose a wife from the unlikely pack of the social class, which was considered a taboo in the 1950s - movie celebrity. He was also the first European crown head to marry a commoner. The sovereign prince of Monaco, however, did not care a bit. He was going to marry the elegant and beautiful Hollywood sultry actress, Grace Kelly.
He proposed to Kelly with a simple eternity ring designed with emerald and rubies. Later, her realized that his future bride seemed sporting an engagement ring inferior to other Hollywood stars, so he presented Grace Kelly again with a flasher, more splendid piece. The platinum cartier set in a 10.5 carat emerald-cut diamond with two baguette of diamonds on each side.
4. Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Ring
In July 1947, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark proposed to then Princess Elizabeth with a custom-made ring made from her mother's tiara. This is quite one of the most personalized engagement ring that has a sentimental value because the tiara was dismantled to form a ring and another tiara.
Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, decided to have her tiara, a Greek royal family heirloom given to her as a wedding present from her husband, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, broken into pieces to design an engagement ring for her only son. The diamonds were formed into a ring, with a large stone in the center surrounded with 10 smaller diamonds. Princess Elizabeth proudly showed it on their engagement day by folding her finger.
The other pieces were made into a Meander tiara as Philip's wedding gift to his bride. The tiara now went to their only daughter, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.
5. Sarah's Flower-designed Ruby
When the second son of the Queen, Prince Andrew, proposed to his girlfriend, Sarah Ferguson, on March 1986, he knew better what to give. And unlike his older brother, the Prince of Wales, who seemed unprepared with his marriage proposal, Andrew was very much ready. He picked an oval-shaped Burmese ruby ring to represent his future wife's red hair. It was designed to resemble a blossoming flower with 10 diamonds surrounding the large stone.
6. Princess Eugenie's Padparadscha Sapphire
James Brooksbank seemed took an inspiration from Sarah's engagement ring. He gave Princess Eugenie with a beautiful ring in an oval-shaped design that contains a padparadscha sapphire which gave the ring a splendid orange glow, it is surrounded with diamonds.
7. Stephanie's Halo ring
Prince Guillaume, the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, gave his future bride, Countess Stephanie de Lannoy, a unique piece of jewelry. The sophisticated engagement ring is designed in an emerald-cut diamond that reflects a halo, surrounded with smaller diamond stones and place in a split shank setting.
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