In February 1981 Charles, Prince of Wales proposed to the then, Lady Diana Spencer. He presented her with a selection of engagement rings from the Crown Jeweller Garrard and according to royal authors, Diana told her butler she picked the Sapphire ring because ‘It was the biggest!’.
The now renowned ring features 14 Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds surrounding a 12 Carat Oval Blue Ceylon Sapphire set in 18ct White Gold.
What was unusual though, was that it was not a specially made piece unlike other royal engagement rings .
It was a stock item and embarrassingly, this meant that the ring was already in the Garrard catalogue with its price tag, £28,500.
This led to some calling the ring the “Commoner’s Sapphire”.
Princess Diana wore the ring all through her marriage and even after her divorce. At some point, she had the ring altered to feature more claws on the central sapphire stone.
After her death in 1997, Princes William and Harry selected mementos from their mother’s possessions. Harry chose the engagement ring, while William selected Diana’s Cartier Tank Francaise watch.
However the brothers had agreed that the first one to get engaged could have the ring, so when Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010, he used his mother’s ring.
William later said that giving the ring to his fiancée was a “way of making sure my mother didn’t miss out on today and the excitement.”
The fourth series of the popular Netflix drama ‘The Crown’ portrays a young Princess Diana and her early experiences within the Royal Family.
In Episode Three ‘Fairytale’, one of the first scenes depicts Lady Diana Spencer (played by Emma Corrin) selecting her ring from Garrad.
