Prince Harry Denies Giving Princess Diana’s Engagement Ring to Prince William for Kate Middleton Proposal: ‘It Wasn’t Mine to Give’
Prince Harry denied longstanding reports he gifted his late mother, Princess Diana’s sapphire ring to Prince William for his 2010 engagement to Kate Middleton. Harry ended years of speculation about his involvement in William’s proposal. He said of the iconic bauble, “it wasn’t mine to give.”
Princess Diana’s former butler shared the original story in a documentary
In The Diana Story, Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, said Harry gave William their mother’s ring so he could propose to Kate in 2010. The three-part documentary streams on Amazon Prime.
Paul claims that when Diana died in a car crash in 1997, King Charles II allowed the brothers to choose select items from her jewelry collection. The butler said he remembers William asking for his “mummy’s Cartier watch,” gifted to her by her father, John Spencer.
However, Paul also claimed Harry requested the engagement ring Diana selected upon marrying Prince Charles. He alleged Harry had strong memories of the ring and that he once said, “I remember when I held mummy’s hand when I was a small boy, and that ring always hurt me because it was so big.”
Diana’s engagement ring, now belonging to Kate, is a 12-carat Ceylon sapphire ring surrounded by a cluster of 14 solitaire diamonds set in 18-karat white gold, reported Insider. The ring game from Garrard, the monarchy’s official jeweler.
While Paul’s story has wonderful imagery, it doesn’t appear to gel with Harry’s version of events from that same period. He revealed his truth in Spare.
Prince Harry denies the story, saying the ring ‘wasn’t mine to give’
In his book Spare, Prince Harry lay bare his recollections of his life. He downplayed many rumors surrounding the royal family within its pages and added some troubling details regarding life inside Kensington Palace.
Regarding his participation in gifting William his beloved mother’s engagement ring, Harry denied the story her former bodyguard released. His version of the events which transpired is very different.
“None of it ever happened,” Harry wrote. “I never gave Willy that ring because it wasn’t mine to give. He already had it. He’d asked for it after Mummy died, and I’d been more than happy to let it go.”
Harry also refuted other details regarding William’s engagement to Kate Middleton. He claimed he had little to do with the proposal. He claims it was “news to me.”
The Duke of Sussex claims he found out about William’s engagement via newspapers. His discovery came after the brothers traveled to Lesotho, South Africa.
He wrote in Spare: “Soon after we returned to Britain, the Palace announced that Willy was going to marry. News to me. All that time together in Lesotho, he’d never mentioned it.
“The papers published florid stories about the moment I realized Willy and Kate were well matched and the moment I appreciated the depth of their love. Thus decided to gift Willy the ring I’d inherited from Mummy, the legendary sapphire, a tender moment between brothers, a bonding moment for all three of us, and absolute rubbish,” Harry concluded.
Harry inherited other pieces of Diana’s jewelry collection, gifting some to Meghan Markle
The BBC reported Harry said during his and Meghan’s 2017 engagement interview that he sourced heirloom jewelry, including two stones from his mother’s collection, to design Markle’s custom-made engagement ring. The couple went public with their relationship in 2016.
“The little diamonds on either side are from my mother’s jewelry collection to make sure she’s with us on this crazy journey together,” he told the BBC.
Harry gifted Meghan his mother’s aquamarine ring to don during their wedding reception. She has also worn Diana’s butterfly earrings, a gold bracelet, a diamond tennis bracelet, and a gold Cartier tank watch, reported Town & Country.
