Just like her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Sussex is amassing quite the jewelry collection.
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down for their first official portrait since leaving the Royal Family, the duchess sported some gorgeous accessories: a gold Cartier watch (which may or may not have once belonged to Diana), a Cartier “Love” bracelet, and a new massive diamond pinky ring, which hadn’t been spotted on the duchess publicly before now.
According to Page Six, the new sparkler — an emerald-cut diamond on a simple band — was fashioned by celebrity jeweller Lorraine Schwartz from a gift of diamonds Harry and Meghan received from the Middle East.
The couple, who currently reside in L.A., have worked with Schwartz before — Harry helped the jeweller make a custom diamond eternity ring featuring the family’s (including baby Archie’s) birthstones to mark his and his wife’s first wedding anniversary, and Schwartz also resized and reset the duchess’ engagement ring with a new band.
Markle’s jewelry collection isn’t limited to rings though. You may remember the ‘H M’ necklace she wore in the early days of her and Harry’s relationship, which reportedly got her in trouble with a palace aide; or the various Birks ‘Snowflake’ earrings she’s worn at royal engagements.
Markle wore Birks jewelry so often the Canadian brand saw a noticeable rise in sales. “We’ve been very lucky,” Jean-Christophe Bédos, president and chief executive of Birks Group Inc. told the New York Times. “Her impact on Birks can be measured on a global scale; she accelerated brand awareness, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.”
And we mustn’t forget about the jewelry that has been passed from Princess Diana to her via Harry, including the aquamarine cocktail ring Harry gave Meghan to wear at their wedding reception; a gold bracelet that Meghan wore during the royal tour of Australia and most famously, her engagement ring, whose two small diamonds were part of Diana’s jewelry collection.
WATCH: Meghan Markle’s tiara drama. Story continues below.
As for the Cartier watch pictured in the portrait, there’s a bit of a debate online as to whether it belonged to Diana, or whether it’s a version Markle bought for herself when she lived in Toronto. In 2015, Markle told Hello magazine she bought the Cartier French Tank watch to celebrate “Suits” being picked up for a third season.
“I had it [the watch] engraved on the back, ‘To M.M. From M.M.’ and I plan to give it to my daughter one day. That’s what makes pieces special, the connection you have to them.”
Royal fans may lament the fact that the duchess only got the chance to wear a royal tiara once during her short stint as a senior royal, but at least it was a stunner.
Queen Elizabeth loaned Markle Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara for her wedding day in 2018. The tiara originally belonged to Queen Elizabeth’s grandmother and features a diamond brooch alongside larger and smaller brilliant diamonds.
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