When it comes to the royal family, there are few things more fun than a royal wedding — whether we're waking up at the crack of dawn to tune in at home, speculating about what the bride's dress will look like, or catching up on all the planning gossip. But before the wedding has to come an engagement, and over the years, there have been so many impressive royal engagement rings… and many of them have featured diamonds and other precious stones that are worth more than the cars in our driveways.
Because these rings belong to women who have already sealed their places in history, these have all easily become iconic pieces of jewelry. Kate Middleton's ring — which originally belonged to Princess Diana — might be one of the most unforgettable engagement rings of all time, and hers is just the beginning, especially considering the heirloom piece that Queen Elizabeth's ring from Prince Philip will surely become in her family.
Read on for all of the most gorgeous engagement rings worn by women in the royal family. While some parts of their designs do reflect the time the rings were purchased and the question was popped, many of them are timeless, because honestly, do giant diamonds ever go out of style?
Didn't think so!
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been married an impressive 70 years, and it all started with their engagement, which took place in 1947. According to the royal family's official website, Elizabeth and Philip first met in 1934 when they were both at Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark's wedding to Prince George, the Duke of Kent, though they were both still kids at that time.
Three-Carat Stunner
As Town & Country has pointed out, the Queen's 3-carat ring has a sweet backstory. Philip created it from a tiara given to him by his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg. She gave him the tiara she wore on her wedding so that he could use the diamonds in it to create an engagement ring for then-Princess Elizabeth. He ended up creating the ring out of 11 diamonds straight from that sweet gift from his mom and used even more of the tiara's diamonds to create a bracelet as a wedding gift for his bride. It's worth an estimated $134,000.
Camilla Parker Bowles
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's relationship with Prince Charles was off to a bit of a scandalous start, given that it began while he was still married to Princess Diana, and it wasn't until years into their relationship that they decided to move forward. They officially announced their engagement in 2005, and they got married in April of that same year.
Family Heirloom
The Duchess of Cornwall's ring is a family heirloom with some pretty sweet stats. The center stone is a 5-carat emerald-cut diamond — with smaller baguette diamonds surrounding it — and though it was not the Queen Mother's engagement ring, it did happen to come from her collection. Now, it lives on Camilla's finger, and jewelry experts estimate that it's worth about $288,000.
Sarah Ferguson
It's been a minute since Sarah, Duchess of York, and Prince Andrew got divorced — and by a "minute," we mean more than 20 years have passed. But without their marriage, we wouldn't have Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, so their union most certainly counts. They got engaged in 1986 during a trip to Scotland, and they were married for a decade before they split.
Burmese Ruby
Sarah is known for wearing her engagement ring for years after her divorce, and seeing how unusual it is, it's easy to understand why: It's gorgeous. Sarah's center stone is a Burmese ruby, to complement her red hair, surrounded by 10 diamonds to make a flower design — which Andrew came up with himself while working with Garrard's jewelers. It is worth about $94,000.
Kate Middleton
Prince William popped the question to Kate in 2010, after they met in college and dated for several years. He asked her to marry him while they were on a trip to Kenya with friends, which certainly had to have made a memorable backdrop for such a big moment in both of their lives — especially since Africa has always been a favorite place of William's.
$500,000 Beauty
We already know that the Duchess of Cambridge's ring has a sweet story behind it, because it originally belonged to Princess Diana, making it such a meaningful piece — but it's also pretty valuable. The sapphire itself is 12 carats and is surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds. Though Charles paid $37,000 for it at the time, it's now thought to be worth about $500,000.
Sophie Wessex
The Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, proposed to his wife, Sophie, in 1999, after they had been dating for about six years. Sophie is thought to have had no trouble fitting into the family, and is rumored to be one of the Queen's favorites, especially considering the fact that Edward is the only one of her children who has never been divorced.
Impressive Rock
Like many other royal rings, Sophie's ring was also designed by Garrard's, and it's impressive. The ring includes a 2-carat oval diamond as the center stone surrounded by two smaller heart-shaped diamonds, though Sophie doesn't always choose to wear it at every royal engagement. Her ring is thought to be worth around $100,000.
Meghan Markle
On November 27, 2017, Buckingham Palace officially announced that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were engaged, and the story — as Harry told the BBC in an interview afterwards — was actually pretty sweet. He popped the question while he and Meghan were cooking dinner together, as if it proposition of marriage was NBD. Less than a year later, they were married.
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
Altered Statement
Though the Duchess of Sussex's ring has been altered since Harry originally popped the question. (She switched out the plain gold band for a thinner eternity band.) Harry has said that he sourced the center stone from Botswana, while the smaller diamonds on either side are from Diana's collection. The ring is thought to be worth about $350,000..
Princess Eugenie
In January 2018, Eugenie got engaged to night club manager and longtime boyfriend Jack Brooksbank when he popped the question during a trip to Nicaragua. Less than a year later, they officially tied the knot at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle and began their happily ever after in true royal style. And, of course, their engagement photos were gorgeous.
Pretty Impressive
Eugenie's ring is an impressive one — and it even looks a bit like her mom's. The center stone is a padparadscha sapphire, known as a "lotus blossom," and is one of the rarest jewels in the world. It's surrounded by diamonds, and most impressively, Jack designed it himself. Her ring is worth an estimated $100,000.
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice is the most recent royal to be married, and she and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, first announced their engagement in the fall of 2019. "We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together," they said in a statement at the time. "We share so many similar interests and values, and we know that this will stand us in great stead for the years ahead, full of love and happiness."
One of the Most Romantic Royal Rings
Jeweler Shaun Leane helped Edoardo design Beatrice's ring, which features 3.5 carats worth of diamonds, and is valued at an estimated $100,000. The sparkle is real with this one, and it seems like it was personalized to perfectly fit Beatrice's tastes.
