Inside Meghan Markle's Engagement Ring

Another Cinderella story hit the books on Monday when Prince Henry of Wales (familiarly known as Prince Harry) and actress and humanitarian Meghan Markle announced their engagement. With any royal engagement, of course, comes a circus of media attention, not just on the potential new member of the royal family, but on her undoubtedly spectacular engagement ring. Historically, royal engagements have spurred massive shifts in the engagement and wedding ring industry. For example, after Prince Harry’s older brother William proposed to Kate Middleton with his mother’s, the late Princess Diana of Wales, sapphire engagement ring, the popularity of colored gemstones in engagement rings climbed to heights it hadn’t seen since the ring was unveiled for the first time on Lady Diana’s finger.

Meghan Markle’s three-stone ring is decidedly unique: in fact, Prince Harry designed it himself and made the piece an incredibly personal and meaningful representation of their relationship. The center stone is cushion-cut diamond that weighs in between 3.5 and 4.5 carats. The Prince sourced the stone from Botswana, not only ensuring that it was ethically mined, but also adding an element that is extremely personal to himself and to Meghan, as they spent five days together on a wildlife safari in the South African country early on in their relationship.

The two stones that flank the center are estimated to be between 1/2 and 3/4 carats each and were both pulled from Princess Diana’s personal collection of jewelry—Prince Harry said he incorporated them into the design because he wanted to, “make sure that she’s with us on this crazy journey together.” The sweet sentiment adds so much more dimension to the already-intimate background of the ring.

Finally, the three stones are set into white gold baskets for added brilliance and the band is a classic yellow gold, chosen, according to the prince, because he knew it was Markle’s favorite.

Though three-stone rings have steadily been growing in popularity in recent years thanks to their classic design, this royal development is probably only going to expedite the climb—though we’re sure a bride would be ecstatic with any kind of design, as long as it is imbued with so much rich emotion and history.

If you are interested in an engagement ring similar to Meghan Markle’s, feel free to contact our concierge service for assistance, or simply take a look through TrueFacet for what could be the right ring for you. However, we have taken the liberty of presenting you with these similar-looking suggestions: