express– As a member of the Royal Family, Princess Diana often wore items from the Queen’s jewellery collection when out and about on royal engagements. But over her lifetime, Diana also built up an impressive jewellery collection of her own.
Upon her death in 1997, Diana’s jewellery collection was left to her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
Diana specified her personal jewellery should be dealt with as her sons saw fit, stating in a letter of wishes: “I would like you to allocate all my jewellery to the share to be held by my sons, so that their wives may, in due course, have it or use it.
“I leave the exact division of the jewellery to your discretion.”
Now both men are married, their respective wives have been pictured wearing Diana’s jewellery on several occasions.
Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, wears Princess Diana’s engagement ring from Prince Charles as her own engagement ring.
Prince William proposed with his late mother’s ring upon a holiday to Kenya in 2010, but the ring actually belonged to Prince Harry before William.
Leading diamond expert Max Stone, of jewellery experts Steven Stone, said: “While Prince Harry inherited the ring in 1997 in the wake of Diana’s tragic death, it’s said he offered the cherished ring to his brother, Prince William, so he could propose to Kate Middleton with it.
“When Prince William and Kate Middleton became engaged in 2010, the royal engagement ring was once again in the spotlight.
“Globally, the sale of blue sapphires increased by around 300 percent at the time, and even now, thanks to Netflix show The Crown, sales of sapphires are surging, with vintage style halo designs being extremely popular.
“Due to inflation and its legacy, we’d estimate the value of this ring to be around £390,000 today, however in 10 years time it’s likely this ring will be worth over £500,000, thanks to its history, beauty, and priceless legacy.”
Upon her engagement to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle also received an engagement ring with strong links to Princess Diana.
The ring featured three diamonds, with the central stone thought to be sourced from Botswana, a place close to Harry and Meghan’s hearts.
But the ring also featured two diamonds from Princess Diana’s jewellery collection.
Meghan was also spotted wearing Princess Diana’s iconic Asprey aquamarine ring when she married Prince Harry in 2018.
As well as rings, several of Diana’s earrings and necklaces have been passed down to her son’s wives.
Pearl earrings were worn by Diana on several occasions, and have since been worn by Kate on occasion too.
Mr Stone added: “While pearls can vary in price, the ones featured in these earrings are of the highest quality as they are South Sea pearls.
“Earrings like this would cost between £30,000 to £35,000 on today’s market.”
“Interestingly, since Kate Middleton was seen sporting these earrings in 2019 at the BAFTAS, we’ve seen a spike in interest for earrings of a similar style.
“As Diana passed down the jewellery, it seems as though she’s also passed down her fashion influence too.”
Kate has also been spotted wearing Diana’s sapphire earrings on occasion.
And while on an official tour of Australia and New Zealand, Meghan wore Diana’s yellow gold and diamond butterfly earrings.
