![Close up of the ring worn by the newly married Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle leaving Windsor Castle with Prince Harry after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana12.jpg?resize=1200%2C763&ssl=1)
Thanks to her daughters-in-law, we’ve had a real Princess Diana jewelry bonanza on our hands lately, haven’t we? Tuesday night brought another appearance from one of Diana’s gorgeous pieces: her emerald-cut aquamarine ring.
![Diana, Princess of Wales, arrives at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute dinner dance in Sydney on October 31, 1996 for her first engagement in Australia](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana06.jpg?resize=1200%2C1698&ssl=1)
Diana had a small but mighty collection of aquamarines, many of which dated to the years of her royal marriage. One of the last major additions to that grouping of jewels was a gorgeous cocktail ring featuring an emerald-cut aquamarine with diamond accents on the band. The ring, a gift from Lucia Flecha de Lima, was made by Asprey, and it arrived in Diana’s jewelry box around 1996.
![Diana, Princess of Wales, converses during the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute fund raising dinner in Sydney 31 October 1996](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana03.jpg?resize=1200%2C1840&ssl=1)
That October, she memorably wore the ring with an electric blue Versace gown for a fundraising gala in Sydney, Australia, benefiting the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. She paired the ring with her horseshoe and laurel earrings (now worn with a different pearl drop by the current Princess of Wales) and a five-stranded pearl bracelet. The bracelet featured two clasps: an aquamarine on one side and a diamond floral clasp on the other.
Here’s a closer view of Diana’s ring, earrings, and bracelet from the October 1996 outing in Sydney.
![Princess Diana June 1997 At Christies in London](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana14.jpg?resize=1200%2C1744&ssl=1)
As far as I know, Diana only wore the aquamarine ring on one other occasion: a pre-auction party celebrating the launch of her famous dress auction at Christie’s in London in June 1997. She wore the ring with a Catherine Walker dress, plus the Qatari Pearl Drop Earrings and a diamond tennis-style bracelet (most recently seen on the Duchess of Sussex).
Diana stacked the aquamarine ring with a diamond band for the party. I’ve seen some people reference the aquamarine as a “divorce” ring, suggesting it was used as a replacement for her famous sapphire engagement ring following her divorce. The truth is that Diana wore both rings, as well as her diamond and emerald ring, after her divorce. She still wore the sapphire ring fairly frequently, including an outing at the Met Gala in December 1996. She famously wore the emerald ring for a birthday appearance at the Tate Gallery in July 1997. She also often wore no rings at all during that final year of her life.
![Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex wave as they leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana10.jpg?resize=1200%2C1565&ssl=1)
More than two decades later, the aquamarine ring reappeared on Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle. The newly-minted Duchess of Sussex wore the ring on her right hand for their wedding reception in Windsor in May 2018. The emerald-cut ring, with its clean, geometric lines, fit nicely with her sleek reception dress and her modern Cartier earrings.
![Close up of the ring worn by the newly married Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle leaving Windsor Castle with Prince Harry after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, hosted by the Prince of Wales](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana13.jpg?resize=1200%2C1506&ssl=1)
Here’s a close-up that shows the details of the ring nicely. I’ve seen some try to speculate online that the two rings aren’t the same piece. I would firmly reject that suggestion—I think they’re clearly the same jewel. Most of the speculation I’ve seen seems rooted in personal feelings and opinions about the wearers of the ring rather than in the details of the jewel itself. To my eye, the ring worn by Diana and the ring worn by Meghan are clearly the same piece, down to the diamonds set on either side of the aquamarine itself.
![Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a state dinner at the Royal Residence on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana11.jpg?resize=1200%2C1664&ssl=1)
The Duchess of Sussex also wore the ring a few months later, for an official dinner in Tonga in October 2018. On that occasion, she paired the ring with another white gown, plus diamond earrings from Birks and Diana’s diamond bracelet.
![Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex speak onstage at the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala at New York Hilton on December 06, 2022 in New York City](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana07.jpg?resize=1200%2C1800&ssl=1)
And on Tuesday, Meghan wore the ring once more, again pairing it with a white dress. This time, her earrings came from Carolina Herrera.
![Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala at New York Hilton on December 06, 2022 in New York City](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecourtjeweller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-1209-01-diana09.jpg?resize=880%2C580&ssl=1)
Here’s another view of the ring from Tuesday’s outing at the Ripple of Hope Gala in New York.
A note: As always, I expect the commentary here to be restricted firmly to jewelry alone. There are plenty of places to talk about the interpersonal drama of the royal family. This isn’t one of them. Please don’t make me waste valuable time (that could be spent writing more about jewelry!) moderating comments that don’t adhere to our standards.
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