According to a recent study, Meghan Markle’s engagement ring has been crowned the most “iconic” and popular in the Royal Family.
New research conducted by the jewellery manufacturer Pandora UK has discovered that Meghan Markle has the most influential engagement ring, still tending with over 586,000 searches.
Princess Diana came second place in popularity with 143, 900 searches followed by actress Meghan Fox who came in third place with 210,000 searches and then Hailey Baldwin-Bieber, Justin Bieber’s wife, who came in fourth place with 120,800 searches.
In fifth place was Kate Middleton with 74,5000 searches, which made her the third most popular royal engagement ring. Princess Eugenie’s search volume amounted to 9,840 while Princess Eugenie had 7, 70 searches in 2023.
Pandora UK analysed Google search data, news articles from 2023, and social media posts and discovered that royal engagement rings have had a resurgence and are still captivating people’s attention years later.
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They said: “In 2023, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, owns the most iconic royal engagement ring. Designed by Prince Harry, it boasts a cushioned yellow-gold setting adorned with a diamond trilogy.
“Garnering 586,000 Google searches, Meghan’s ring received over seven times more searches than Kate Middleton’s Ceylon sapphire engagement ring, which received 74,500.
“Overall, our research discovered that royal engagement rings weigh in at an average of 6.4 carats and hold an average value of £187,842.89.”
Emma Foxm a jewellery expert from Pandora UK has shared that one of the top trends of 2023 was personalised engagement rings, which may explain why royal engagement rings are still so popular.
She said: “This trend includes a surge in the popularity of engraved details, allowing couples to infuse their rings with personal touches, such as significant dates, initials, or sentimental symbols.
“Personalised engagement rings provide a distinct and sentimental connection, reflecting the individuality and shared experiences of the couple. Engraving, in particular, adds an extra layer of significance, transforming the ring into a timeless and deeply personal heirloom.”
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Prince Harry designed Meghan’s £140,000 engagement ring with the help of Queen Elizabeth’s regular jeweller Cleave & Company in 2017 and it features three diamonds.
Two of the smaller diamonds of the ring came from Princess Diana’s collection while the centre stone is from Botswana, a country which is highly sentimental to Harry and Megan as they spent time there while they were dating.
Meghan was spotted wearing her engagement ring for the first time in nine months in February while at the ‘One Year to Go’ event to celebrate the Invictus Games.
She had not been seen publicly wearing the engagement ring since May 2023, but according to People Magazine, the reason behind the ring’s disappearance was that the setting had come loose and needed to be serviced.
Meghan has updated the ring throughout the years, and following the birth of Prince Archie in 2019, she replaced the engagement ring’s original gold band with a thin mico-pave band.
Meanwhile, Prince William proposed to Kate with the same sapphire diamond ring which once belonged to Princess Diana, and the design was inspired by a sapphire brooch which Prince Albert gave Queen Victoria on their wedding day.
During her engagement interview in 2010 with Tom Bradby, Kate commented on how “beautiful” the ring was and added: “I just hope I look after it. It’s very very special.”
In the same interview, William explained he decided to purpose with his mother’s being as “obviously she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all—this was my way of keeping her sort of close to it all.”
It is believed that Kate’s engagement ring bought today would be worth £116,000 but due to the history of the unique sapphire ring, it is likely worth over £500,000.
