When it comes to romance, few things capture the imagination quite like a royal wedding—or a royal engagement ring. From historic heirlooms to custom designs, modern royal women wear some of the most incredible (and expensive) gemstones. But which royal ring is worth the most? Jewelry specialist Anya Walsh at 77 Diamonds analyzed some of the most popular engagement rings for the Daily Mail—and the most expensive on the list probably won't surprise you.
Princess Diana's sapphire and diamond ring became instantly iconic when she debuted the 12-carat Garrard sparkler in 1981, and Prince William went on to propose to his own future wife, Kate Middleton, with his late mother's ring in 2010. During their engagement interview, William admitted he'd been "carrying it around" in his rucksack "for about three weeks" while they were on vacation in Kenya. "It's my mother's engagement ring so I thought it was quite nice because 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 close," he shared.
Walsh pointed out that due its ties to Diana, Kate's ring is the priciest in the royal collection. "When you also consider the history of the ring it's probably one of the most iconic pieces of jewelry in existence, and whilst this makes it priceless in some ways, the value of the physical ring itself would be an absolute minimum of £500,000 ($644,000)," she shared.
The surprising second-place ring is Queen Camilla's, which is valued around £240,000 ($309,000). The Art Deco style design hails from the Queen Mother's collection, making it another piece of royal history. Featuring a five-carat emerald diamond surrounded by three baguette-cut diamonds on either side, The Queen's ring was actually never intended to be an engagement ring. In fact, per jeweler Taylor and Hart, it was reportedly given as a push present when the Queen Mother gave birth to her daughter, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II).
"Camilla's ring is an extremely elegant piece," Walsh said. "Whilst it may appear a little understated in comparison to Kate's ring, it exudes the class and quality befitting a Queen."
Coming in with the third-most expensive royal ring is the Duchess of Sussex, whose three-stone diamond style is worth £150,000 ($193,000) or more, according to the jewelry expert.
Like the Princess of Wales's ring, Meghan's also has a tie to Princess Diana as it includes two diamonds from her collection on either side of a larger center stone from Botswana. It was personally designed by Prince Harry and clearly, he knew what he was doing; the ring was recently voted the most popular engagement ring in the world in a survey conducted by the Natural Diamond Council.
"Whilst the center stone is new, the inclusion of stones previously belonging to Diana bring an added dimension and demonstrates how old and new can be perfectly blended to create an outstanding piece," Walsh shared.
The final ring in the £100,000-and-up club belongs to Princess Eugenie, who owns a rather different—and stunning—design. Like Princess Kate's ring, hers is a sapphire surrounded by diamonds, but Eugenie's is crafted from a rare Padparadscha sapphire. The pink stone is accented by a halo of diamonds and smaller pear-shaped side stones on either side.
"Princess Eugenie's ring is beautifully unique and a departure from the blue sapphires seen across other royal rings with the soft pink hue of the centre stone sitting effortlessly amongst the diamonds," Walsh said.
