As royal fans know, Prince William proposed to his bride with the same engagement ring that once belonged to his mother, Princess Diana. The ring is a stunning 12-carat oval Ceylon sapphire set in 18-carat white gold and surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds. But it’s not the only sapphire jewelry the current Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) wears today.
Kate has a few sapphire gems in her collection just like Diana did. And also like Diana, Kate is often photographed wearing the pieces she loves most. But many people are mistaking something William’s wife has worn for more than a decade to the ones Diana used to wear a lot.
Here’s what they are and how you can spot the difference between them.
Kate’s been wearing these for years but they’re not the same ones Diana wore so often
Kate has a sapphire pendant as well as sapphire earrings that match her engagement ring. But those earrings we see her wearing so often aren’t the same ones Diana wore to high-profile events.
Fine jewelry and diamond experts at the U.K. retailer Steven Stone took a closer look at both pairs of earrings after some fans opined that they were the same and Kate had them altered. The most noticeable difference is that Diana’s earrings are double drop-down earrings with two sapphire diamonds, while Kate’s have just one.
Steven Stone’s creative director, Maxwell Stone, explained: “Crafted from yellow gold, Kate’s earrings feature a single diamond at the clasp. Dangling from the clasp is a cluster drop with a faceted sapphire, elegantly encircled by nine additional diamonds. Kate has been wearing the earrings publicly since the summer of 2011, shortly after her royal wedding, leading to speculation that they could have been a gift from William. Due to their striking similarities, the earrings are frequently mistaken for a pair Kate inherited from Princess Diana, with suggestions that she refashioned them. However, there is no evidence to support this theory.
“While both pairs showcase sapphire stones in a halo setting, the key difference lies in Diana’s earrings, which feature two cabochon sapphires, as opposed to Kate’s single-faceted sapphire. Cabochons are generally less expensive than faceted gemstones since they require less cutting and polishing, so I’d estimate both sets of earrings to be worth around £30,000 ($39,000 USD).”
The princess does have her mother-in-law’s earrings and has worn them before
Those earrings Diana used to don hadn’t made many appearances since her death until Kate wore them to a public event a few years back.
“Kate publicly debuted Diana’s earrings at the 2022 Trooping the Colour parade,” Maxwell Stone noted.
She wore them again that same year during her and William’s three-day trip to the U.S. for the Earthshot Annual Awards ceremony. According to the Daily Mail, the significance of Kate wearing the earrings then is because Diana wore them one of the last times she was in the U.S. when she attended a Met Gala in 1996.
