Princess Diana's decision to wear her 'wedding ring' after divorce was all emotional
Princess Diana was unlike anyone that the royal family or the world had seen. She was called the 'People's Princess' for a reason; for her people and their feelings came before anything else. So, when she decided to continue wearing her wedding ring, even after her separation from husband Prince Charles, it happened for two reasons - Prince William and Harry.
According to Daily Mail, Princess Diana decided to not remove her wedding ring "out of respect for her young sons." At that time, Prince William and Harry were 14 and 11 years old respectively.
Diana knew that they were young and vulnerable to the news. The media attention surrounding her divorce was unlike other, and at this time, she wanted her children to live a life far away from the negativity that crawled in her life because of the separation.
There is no doubt that the ring meant a lot to her. Since the beginning, Diana decided to make her own rules and not stick to the ones that have been placed by the other members of the royal family. The Royals are known for having a custom ring made for the wedding, but Diana wanted to choose one that she would love to have on her finger. She chose a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire surrounded by fourteen solitaire diamonds on an 18K white gold setting from Garrard's catalog ahead of her wedding.
She had the privilege of wearing the ring that she chose instead of settling for the choice made by someone else for her.
Their divorce got finalized in August 1996, and on September 5, Diana made her first public appearance alongside Prince Harry and William wearing her wedding ring. She knew the press would notice it and that it would make headlines, but she decided to keep it on for the sake of her children.
Although they got divorced in 1996, they had separated in 1992, after rumors of infidelity on both sides started making rounds. However, the one in particular that stayed for a long time was Charles relationship with his now wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles. Diana always knew that even though she was married to Charles, his heart belonged to someone else. Despite confronting both of them numerous times, she could not save her marriage.
But she did have a conversation with Prince William about the affair. In a sit-down, televised interview with BBC's Martin Bashir, Diana recalled how she informed William about the ongoing situation. "I told William, 'If you find someone you love in life, you must hang onto it and look after it,'" Diana said, as reported by Popsugar. "'And if you are lucky enough to find someone who loves you, then you must protect it.'"
She went on to admit that she didn't want her marriage to end: "I don't want a divorce, but, obviously, we need clarity on a situation that has been of enormous discussion over the last three years," adding, "I await my husband's decision of which way we are all going to go."
