Kate Middleton, 36, made history when she married Prince William, 35, as a non-royal woman in 2011.
The couple, who met at St Andrew’s University, tied the knot after knowing one another for more than 10 years.
In a romantic gesture, Prince William proposed to his wife-to-be with his late mother Princess Diana’s engagement ring from Prince Charles.
Diana picked the ring out of a Garrads catalogue in February 1981, which was in itself a first, as most royal rings are specially commissioned.
When Prince William gave the ring to his bride-to-be in 2010 on a trip to Africa, some gave the ring a cruel name.
Reportedly the ring was dubbed “Commoner’s Sapphire,” because Kate Middleton came from a family that does not have royal roots.
However, despite the unkind words, Kate has flourished in her royal role.
Now the Duchess of Cambridge is very soon to give birth to her third royal baby.
Prince William said of the ring: “Obviously, she’s not going to be around to share in any of the fun and excitement of it all, so this is my way of keeping her sort of close to it all.”
The sapphire ring is ringed with 14 diamonds and is set on 18 carat gold.
When the ring was bought for Diana it cost £28,500, which is the equivalent of £100,252.37 in today’s money.
Now Kate Middleton’s engagement ring is valued at over £300,000. The average cost of an engagement ring from a specialist jeweller is £3,000.
Prince Harry also incorporated his mother in his engagement, by using some of the diamonds from her personal collection.
Meghan Markle’s engagement ring featured one large central diamond from Botswana, which was flanked by two diamonds reportedly from a brooch that belonged to Diana.
Royal engagement rings are always beautiful, thanks to the Royal Family’s access to enormous funds.
Which engagement ring is the nations favourite, however?
Former night club manager Jack Brooksbank, 31, chose an interesting stone for Princess Eugenie’s engagement ring.
Many commented on the fact that it looks remarkably similar to Sarah Ferguson’s engagement ring.
