Engagement ring
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Diana and Charles became engaged in February 1981. Her engagement ring consisted of 14 diamonds surrounding a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire set in 18-carat white gold.[54][55] It was created by then-crown jeweller Garrard. The design was inspired by Queen Victoria’s sapphire-and-diamond cluster brooch, a wedding present from Prince Albert in 1840, which Victoria donned that day as her “something blue“.[56]
Diana’s selection of this ring was considered unusual. It was neither custom-made nor unique and was, at the time of her engagement to Charles, featured in Garrard’s jewellery collection and available to anyone for purchase.[57] It was reported in the media that Diana selected it because it reminded her of her mother‘s engagement ring, while others said that she chose it due to its big size. Diana continued to wear the ring even after her divorce from Prince Charles.[57]
When Prince William proposed to Catherine Middleton in the autumn of 2010 in Kenya, he gave her the ring.[58] 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.”[58] Despite rumours that Middleton had the ring resized,[59] she later stated that she and Diana shared “exactly the same size”.[60]
Some considered the ring a tragic symbol associated with Diana’s failed marriage to the Prince of Wales and untimely death in a car accident in Paris.[61]
Welsh gold wedding band
The gold for the princess’ wedding band followed royal tradition and was made from one of the last soft nuggets of Welsh gold,[62] mined at Clogau St David’s gold mine. That same Welsh gold nugget had also provided gold for the wedding bands of the Queen Mother, the Queen, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne among many other royals.[63] The princess’ Welsh gold band is engraved on the inside with the words: “I Love You, Diana”.[64][6][page needed][2]
Bulgari diamond band
Diana was wearing a ring given to her by Dodi Fayed when she died. It was a £3,000 Bulgari yellow gold band with diamonds. The diamond band set in yellow gold was not an engagement ring and was worn on the fourth finger of her right hand, where her butler Paul Burrell advised her to wear it. Photographs taken on 30 August, just before the crash, show that the princess was wearing a gold ring on her right hand. She wore it as a “friendship” ring.[65][66]
Sapphire cabochon ring
The princess wore a sapphire cabochon ring during a Christmas photoshoot in 1982 with Prince Charles and their son, Prince William. It is unknown why she never wore it in public, some speculate it belonged to another member of the family and that she wore it to protect her son from getting scratched by her engagement ring while taking photos.[67]
Cartier Trinity ring and signet ring
During a photo session with royal photographer Tim Graham, at her Kensington Palace apartment on 1 February 1983 the princess wore a Cartier Trinity ring and signet ring with the Prince of Wales feathers which had both been gifts from Prince Charles.[2][page needed][8] The latter had been given to the princess the night before the wedding along with a note that in part read “just look ’em in the eye and knock ’em dead”.[6][page needed]
Aquamarine ring
During her lifetime, Diana possessed a set of aquamarine jewels, including an “emerald cut aquamarine stunner”, which she first wore at the 1997 auction of her clothes at Christie’s. She wore it with the eternity ring she had worn often as a teenager which was originally from the Spencer family collection.[7][page needed] It is believed she wore the eternity ring and aquamarine ring together in replacement of her wedding band and engagement ring.[2][page needed] She wore the aquamarine again when she visited Sydney, Australia in the summer of 1997.[68]
The aquamarine ring, an emerald cut aquamarine flanked by small, solitaire diamonds and set in 24-carat yellow gold, was commissioned by the princess from Asprey in 1997 and was used by her as a replacement for her engagement ring after her divorce from the Prince of Wales in 1996.[69] It was set on 24-carat yellow gold to match her pre-existing aquamarine bracelet which had been a gift to her from the Royal Family.[68]
The stone was given to her by Lucia Flecha de Lima[70] who was known as the princess’ best friend.[71][72] The stone that is placed on the ring had been taken out of a mine in Brazil where the Queen’s aquamarine pieces were usually taken from.[73] After her death, the ring was passed to her younger son Prince Harry who gave it to his wife Meghan Markle to wear at the couple’s wedding reception in 2018.[74]
The ring’s estimated value is £75,000 in 2018 but given the fact that it was pre-owned by the princess, it would probably now fetch far more than that at auction.[68]
Emerald and diamond ring
While at a ball held at the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne (1985), Princess Diana wore what looked to be an emerald cabochon and diamond ring instead of her engagement ring. The two stones are not aligned but are at an angle to one another, very similar to a style of a bypass ring. She also wore this ring on 11 November 1993 while attending a state banquet hosted by The Yang Di-pertuan Agong of Malaysia at The Dorchester Hotel in London.[6][page needed][2][page needed][1] The ring was referred to as a toi et moi-style (French: you and me), and was a gift from Charles for their first Christmas together as a married couple in December 1981. She wore the ring on 21 June 1989, when the Prince and Princess of Wales attended a dinner given by the Corporation of London at Mansion House in honour of visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke. The last time she wore it in public was at the Tate Gallery centenary gala dinner, which was also her 36th birthday, 1 July 1997, along with the diamond and emerald drop earrings given as a birthday present by Prince Charles in 1984, the emerald and diamond bracelet he gave her as a wedding present in July 1981 and the Queen Mary emerald choker necklace.[citation needed]
Square cut emerald ring
While attending a polo match to support Prince Charles in 1989, the Queen loaned the princess a square-cut emerald ring which was incorrectly dubbed by the press as “a gift from a doting husband”.[6][page needed]
“Dis-moi Oui” (“Tell me Yes”) ring
On 30 August 1997, Dodi Fayed purchased a £11,000 “budget” engagement ring from a Repossi boutique in Monte Carlo. This was picked out by the princess previously. It is believed he died before he could give it to the princess. It was recovered from Dodi’s flat, after the couple’s death, along with a receipt listing a “bague de fiançaille” (engagement ring).[75] It was later displayed in a Harrods store.[2][page needed]
Earrings
Pearl studs
Diana’s love for pearls started early in her life. While her school friends often wore diamond studs, the future princess usually chose pearls. At the age of 15, Lady Diana Spencer was first seen wearing a pair of simple pearl earrings;[7][page needed] she wore them as a bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding. These earrings were among the few pieces of jewellery that were not stolen from the princess while living in her London flat prior to her engagement.[6][page needed]
Tiffany earrings
In 1994, Diana and her son Prince William were in the royal box at central court during the Wimbledon tennis tournament. The princess was photographed extensively wearing an 18 carat gold Signature Tiffany five-row bracelet from 1992. She was also seen wearing the bracelet and the matching earrings on 3 July 1994 at the Wimbledon men’s finals.[24]
Platinum teardrop earrings
These platinum earrings were worn by Diana when she fell asleep during an appearance in 1981, which gave her the nickname of “Sleeping Beauty”. She would announce her pregnancy with Prince William shortly after. The earrings were believed to have been on loan from the Queen and matched pearl choker she wore. The centre stone of the earrings were either a diamond or opal (reports differ). They have not been seen on any member of the family since her death.[76][page needed][77]
Gold kidney bean-shaped earrings
On 31 August 1997, the princess was wearing a pair of gold, kidney bean-shaped earrings with four rolls which were believed to have been given to her by Dodi Fayed. It was last worn by the princess on the day of her death and subsequently became one of the 14 personal effects recovered from the crash scene.[65] Due to the impact of the collision the earrings broke. Nurse Nubmbert received a call from Balmoral in the wake of the princess’s passing and was asked if the princess was “wearing her favourite gold earrings”. When the princess’s body arrived at the hospital, she was only wearing the gold earring on her left ear.[78] Paul Burrell received most of the princess’s personal effects at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. He was given only one gold earring, and the other one was later found lodged in the Mercedes’ dashboard with the clasp missing and slightly dented on 23 October 1997.[79][80]
Diamond and emerald drop earrings
The princess had only 2 pieces of emerald jewellery in her collection, an emerald and diamond bracelet given to her as a wedding gift from her new husband Prince Charles and a pair of diamond and emerald drop earrings which had also been given to the princess from Charles; this time as a gift for her 22nd birthday.[81] The earrings, consisting of pear-shaped emerald stones suspended on a diamond drop chain (set in platinum). The modern-style earrings dated from the 1920s, and were made to match the Delhi Durbar Parure, a suite of Cambridge emeralds originally owned by Queen Mary.[1][2][page needed]
Butler and Wilson silver bow heart drop earrings
The princess purchased these earrings herself from the costume jewellery store Butler and Wilson in the 1980s. The earrings came with 2 interchangeable heart drops, one made of crystal, and one made of faux pearl. The princess wore the earrings with the crystal heart drop while visiting Milan in 1985 during the Prince and Princess’ royal tour of Italy. The press misreported that the heart drop earrings were a “priceless gift from the Queen”. The princess wore the faux pearl heart drop while tour of Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre near Sutton Cheney on Thursday, 27 June 1985.[82]
The Queen’s pearl drop earrings
During the princess’s official 1983 visit to Australia, the Queen loaned a pair of pearl drop earrings which had been made by Garrard. The earrings which are set in a modern gold setting were made from stones from the Queen’s collection. The earrings were loaned frequently by the Queen to Diana.[2][page needed]
Pearl and diamond button earrings
The princess wore pair of large pearl and diamond button earrings which were similar to a pair of earrings favoured by the Queen.[6][page needed] The earrings were worn regularly during 1993 notably while the princess attended a dance spectacular in London and while attending a performance of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’.[2][page needed] The round pearl with round diamond underneath are likely faux as they are both too identical to each other. It is near impossible to find identical pearls, especially ones of such large size.[2][page needed]
Diamond and South Sea pearl earrings
Featuring “a circular design of diamonds and a single diamond-encrusted pear”, these dangling earrings were worn by Diana at numerous occasions in the 1990s. Diana last wore them at an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall, but had the pearl drops removed for this outing. The earrings were later passed to Prince William who gave them to his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales. The Princess had the earrings modified and replaced the original pearl drops with smaller pearls.[83] The piece was first worn by the Princess at the red carpet for the 71st British Academy Film Awards.[84][85]
Collingwood pearl earrings
The pair of earrings was given to Diana as a wedding present from her husband. The earrings were created by the Collingwood jewellers and worn by Diana at different outings and engagements. She first wore them at an outing a month before her marriage to Charles. They are now in the possession of the princess’s daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, who first wore them in 2017 during a state banquet and has continued to wear them occasionally.[86][87][88]
Aquamarine and diamond earrings
First worn by the Princess of Wales at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, the earrings were made out of “whopping pear-shaped aquamarines, surrounded by diamonds and suspended from a diamond flower cluster”.[89]
Diamond and ruby studs
Little is known about these diamond and ruby stud earrings other than the fact that a photograph of the princess wearing them made the cover of People magazine – 11 March 1996: “DI-Vorce” – Princess Diana’s Divorce Begins.[2][page needed]
Pearl, sapphire, and ruby earrings
An example of mix-and-match statement studs, the earrings were made out of a pearl and a large blue sapphire on one side, and a pearl and large red ruby on the other. The princess famously wore them during a visit to South Korea in 1992.[15][90]
Emir of Qatar floral pearl earrings
Given to the princess as a wedding present from the Emir of Qatar, the earrings featured “white diamonds in a floral shape and cream-coloured pearls”. Diana wore the pair many times at various outings and events.[15][91][92]
Greville pear-drop earrings
Alongside 60 other pieces of jewellery, Margaret Greville left Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) a set of pear-drop earrings that she had bought from Cartier in 1938. The earrings had been made using family stones. The pear-shaped drop diamonds each weigh about 20 carats (4 g). Diana borrowed them in 1983 to wear on her first official visit to Australia. At a state banquet, she wore the earrings with the Spencer Family Tiara.[93]
Brooches
The Prince of Wales’s Feathers diamond brooch
On her wedding day, Diana was given this brooch by the Queen Mother as a wedding present. The brooch shows the Prince of Wales’s feathers and was often worn by the princess on a diamond tennis necklace with a cabochon emerald drop.[91] The diamond necklace was from the Saudi suite of jewellery she received as a wedding present. The brooch was originally a gift to Princess Alexandra of Denmark upon her marriage to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales in 1863.[94]
Badge of the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II
The Royal Family Order is an honour presented to female members of the British royal family by Queen Elizabeth II. The order is worn on formal occasions and is pinned to the dress of the recipient on the left shoulder. It depicts a young Queen Elizabeth II in evening gown wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter. The miniature picture, which was originally painted on ivory but, since 2017 on glass,[95] is bordered by diamonds and surmounted by a Tudor Crown in diamonds and red enamel. The reverse, in silver-gilt, is patterned with rays and depicts the royal cipher and St Edward’s Crown in gold and enamel. The watered silk ribbon is a chartreuse, yellow colour and formed into a bow.[81]
Butler & Wilson snake brooch
The princess had a large collection of costume jewellery made by one of her favourite costume jewellers, Butler & Wilson. In her vast collection of Butler & Wilson pieces was a snake brooch which was worn by the princess on 3 May 1986 while in Vancouver, British Columbia.[81]
Diamond flower brooch
The brooch was passed to Diana after the death of her friend, art dealer and a former member of the board of directors of the Royal Ballet Adrian Ward-Jackson, in 1991.[96] It featured a central stone and 18 diamond petals.