Princess Charlotte was once given a lavish and luxurious baby toy—but she’s unlikely to have ever laid her hands on it, The Daily Express reports.
The gift? An 18-karat white gold rattle lined with numerous gems—Sapphires! Rubies! Diamonds!—that create a Union Jack flag. Its price tag? Just a mere $45,182. (Yes. For a rattle.)
The gift was given to baby Charlotte when she was born in 2015 by the Natural Sapphire Company. It was a thank you to Charlotte’s parents, now the Prince and Princess of Wales, because after they became engaged in 2010 (and with Princess Diana’s well-known sapphire and diamond engagement ring on her finger) sales of sapphire engagement rings went through the roof, as women tried to replicate Kate’s ring.
“When Kate and William were engaged with the iconic blue sapphire ring that once belonged to Princess Diana, our sapphire ring sales rocketed,” the company said at the time on its website. “Women everywhere wanted to be just as fashionable as Kate. Today, we continue to grow as a business, and it is with great joy that we celebrate the birth of a new royal [Charlotte]. We’re thanking Kate and William for introducing our company to the world by gifting a custom-designed baby rattle fit for their princess.”
The company continued “Baby gifts made from precious metals are a tradition dating back to the 18th century. Our luxury rattle, worth $45,000, is made from 18k white gold, lined with sapphires, rubies, and diamonds to produce the Union Jack flag. Such a unique gift, unlike any they will receive from well wishers around the world, will surely be treasured.”
At the time, Kensington Palace (where the family’s offices are held, and where the family was living at the time) could not confirm whether the rattle was received by William and Kate, but it likely wasn’t—as a general rule, it said, gifts from commercial companies are not accepted.
Somehow, this wasn’t even Charlotte’s most extravagant gift. That came from the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, who made a $100,000 donation to Immunize Canada, a vaccination charity, in her name when she was a year old; he also gave her a more reasonably priced snowsuit, and a book.
Juxtapose those gifts with her grandfather King Charles’ offering: His Majesty also bought Charlotte a rattle, a willow one by Irish basket maker Ciaran Hogan. This rattle, for its part, cost just $31.89. Charlotte’s aunt Pippa Middleton also went the practical route, gifting her only niece biodegradable diapers made from natural mull cloth, which cost just around $6.
