Stop slamming Meghan Markle for blinging up Harry's ring, Princess Diana did the same thing
Duchess Meghan Markle recently "blinged up" her engagement ring which was specially designed for her by Prince Harry. While Meghan drew major backlash for her customization, she isn't the first royal to have done so.
It has now come to light that Princess Diana of Wales also had her iconic sapphire ring revamped after Prince Charles presented it to her while propositioning her to marry him during a private dinner at Buckingham Palace back in 1981, The Sun reports.
A few weeks after the proposal, the royal couple announced their engagement with Princess Di flaunting the sparkler.
The blue stone initially had just eight prongs—two in each corner—when Prince Charles gifted it to her.
However, the ring received a makeover about two years later to hold 14 solitaire diamonds instead of just eight.
Created by Garrard & Co, the ring was initially worth £28,000 ($35,460).
While it now belongs to Kate Middleton after Prince William proposed with it, the jewelry is now valued at around £300,000 ($3,79,980).
That said, Meghan's stunning sparkler features two diamonds from Princess Diana's collection.
The ring originally had a thick gold band that perfectly offset the row of three diamonds.
The Duchess has since modified the ring so that it features a much thinner, diamond-studded micro-pave gold band.
Prince Harry revealed during the couple's engagement interview in 2017 that he had specifically chosen a gold band for his wife's original ring based on her personal jewelry collection.
"The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's her favorite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewelry collection, to make sure she's with us on this crazy journey together," he said.
Botswana is a special place for the royal couple, especially after they spent a romantic holiday in the country on Meghan's 36th birthday ahead of their engagement.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, told Fabulous Digital she "found it odd" that the Duchess of Sussex, 37, would consider modifying her engagement ring.
"I find it a bit odd Meghan would want to alter a ring that her husband had specially designed for her," she said. "A royal engagement ring is a piece of history, not a bit of jewelry to be updated when it looks old fashioned."