Did Meghan Markle Alter Her Engagement Ring? Look Closer 》

Sometimes, it’s tough to relate to the Royal Family because they lead such different lives from the rest of us. However, there are a few things the Royals do just like everyone else, including the ways they get engaged.

For example, Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle very traditionally by getting down on one knee with a stunning ring. But fans of this cute couple have recently noticed that Meghan’s engagement ring is looking much, much different these days.

Did Meghan Markle alter her engagement ring? If so, why did she do it and what does it look like now? We’ve got the full scoop!

How Harry proposed to Meghan

So much of Harry and Meghan’s life happens in front of the public. It’s only fitting that when they got engaged, it was about as private as it could be.

Back in November 2017, Harry and Meghan were spending a romantic evening at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, England. It seemed like it was going to be just another night of hanging out, but then Harry decided to change their lives forever.

The young prince promptly got down on one knee and proposed marriage. Meghan wasted no time saying “yes,” especially after seeing the stunning ring!

Details about the original ring

As you might imagine, no member of royalty was going to propose with some “off the rack” ring. Instead, Harry commissioned this ring from Cleave and Company, a jeweler who has previously handled the jewelry needs for members of the Royal Family.

Harry made the ring deeply personal, with its very design representing their journey as a couple. For example, the large center diamond hails from Botswana, where Harry and Meghan traveled together shortly after they met. And the smaller diamonds on either side are courtesy of Princess Diana’s personal collection, allowing Harry to honor his mother.

To top it off, the band is in yellow gold, Meghan’s favorite. And we can see her reaction in the BBC interview above. Harry told interviewers, “The ring is obviously [set in] yellow gold, because that’s [Meghan’s] favorite, and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana, and the little diamonds on either side are from my mother’s jewelry collection to make sure that she’s with us on this crazy journey.”

As for Meghan, she was quite impressed with both the ring and the man who gave it to her. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “And he designed it. It’s incredible.”

The ring was altered after Archie was born

Fast forward to 2019. Harry and Meghan announce to the world that they are expecting their first child together. Around this same time, close observers notice that Meghan is no longer wearing the amazing engagement ring.

At first, the explanation for this seemed quite simple. When you are pregnant, your fingers can swell and change size, making it hard to wear your favorite jewelry. This seemed like a simple solution to the mystery: Meghan must have been holding off on wearing the ring because it no longer fit her finger as she waited for her future son Archie to be born.

Archie was born in May 2019. And a month later, Meghan stepped out wearing the familiar ring. However, that “familiar” ring had some major changes made to it!

Details about the altered ring

In the time since we last saw the ring, Harry had some changes made to it. What was the purpose of these changes? As near as anyone can tell, he wanted to make the whole thing even bigger and better than it was before!

For example, he replaced the original band of yellow gold with a pave-diamond-encrusted band courtesy of Lorraine Schwartz. And as Hello! magazine points out, Harry added a new eternity band with very special meaning. In Finding Freedom, the book by royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors claim, “The conflict-free diamond eternity band paid homage to the family of three with Meghan’s, Archie’s and Harry’s birthstones (peridot, emerald, and sapphire, respectively) on the underside of the ring,”

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Prince Harry is a deeply sentimental man. And this alteration meant Meghan could take her whole family with her wherever she went!

Is the ring undergoing another alteration?

Now we know that Harry made some major changes to the original engagement ring in part as a way of honoring their son Archie. But now that they have a second child, Lilibet Diana, will there be future alterations?

Right now, all signs point to “yes.” Meghan inadvertently added fuel to the speculative fire when she released this video for her 40×40 initiative, in which she asked “40 friends, activists, athletes, artists, and world leaders to help kickoff a global effort by contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women re-entering the workforce,” according to her Archewell Foundation site.

The focus of the video was meant to be Meghan chatting up Melissa McCarthy about the charity initiative Meghan started for her 40th birthday. However, eagle-eyed fans noticed that Meghan’s eternity band was missing in the video. While nothing is confirmed yet, it seems likely that this means it is getting another alteration behind the scenes.