After Princess Margaret’s death in 2002, many pieces of her royal jewelry were sold. The fate of many pieces not included in that famous auction, including Margaret’s famous ruby and diamond engagement ring, has been unclear. Recently, though, we finally learned where the princess’s engagement ring lives now.
In February 1960, Clarence House issued a special announcement in the Court Circular: “The Queen Mother announces the betrothal of her beloved daughter The Princess Margaret to Mr. Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, son of Mr. R.O.L. Armstrong-Jones, Q.C., and the Countess of Rosse, to which union the Queen has gladly given her consent.”
Buckingham Palace chimed in, with Queen Elizabeth II’s press secretary, Jock Colville, telling the Telegraph, “Both the Queen and Prince Philip said they are delighted because this is such an obviously happy match. They have asked Mr. Armstrong-Jones to stay at Buckingham Palace so that he can be in close touch with all the people making arrangements for the wedding. Princess Margaret herself told the Queen and Prince Philip of her engagement.”
When the announcement was made, Tony was staying with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. Photographers, supervised by the Queen Mum herself, were invited to Royal Lodge to snap pictures of the newly-engaged couple. The Associated Press’s Alvin Steinkopf wrote, “Margaret was careful to hold her hands so that her new engagement ring showed to good advantage. It is a large ruby, set in gold and surrounded by diamonds arranged in the shape of a flower.”
The floral setting of the diamonds in the ring neatly echoed Margaret’s flower-inspired name. In the Liverpool Echo, the royal writer Helen Cathcart—pseudonym of Harold Albert—described the ring as “a large ruby set in gold and surrounded by diamonds arranged in the shape of a flower—a marguerite.” (Marguerite is the French word for daisy.)
Margaret and Tony married in May 1960 at Westminster Abbey, had two children together, and divorced in 1978. The ruby and diamond engagement ring went to their son, David, who is now the 2nd Earl of Snowdon. In a recent interview with the Telegraph, Lord Snowdon’s daughter, Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, revealed that the ring now belongs to her, having received it from her father to mark her 21st birthday in 2023.
Just a few weeks before her milestone birthday, Margarita wore the ring to the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. “It was the same church that Granny got married in,” she explained. “I wear it to things I think she would want to be there for.” Margarita and Margaret sadly never met. The Princess died just a few months before her granddaughter’s birth, and Margarita was named in her honor.
The Armstrong-Jones kids have made occasional public appearances with the royal family over the years, especially on Christmas at Sandringham. You also may recognize Margarita as one of the bridesmaids at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011. Now, 23-year-old Margarita is a jewelry designer studying at the Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School. She produces her own pieces, which are bold, modern designs, under the label Matita.
Margarita’s artistic pursuits should come as no surprise. She comes from a long line of artists, including the 1st Earl of Snowdon, who had made his name as a photographer even before his marriage to Princess Margaret. Margarita’s father is a furniture designer, her mother is a sculptor, and her aunt, Lady Sarah Chatto, is a painter. Margarita told the Telegraph that her Aunt Sarah gave her boxes of costume jewelry from Princess Margaret’s personal collection several years ago. Now, Margaret’s aesthetic, described by her granddaughter as “big and bold,” has provided inspiration for some of Margarita’s own work.
Lady Margarita clearly feels a link to the past, and the royal grandmother she never met, when she wears the ruby and diamond ring. “It’s a Marguerite shape, a particular floral motif, and just so beautiful,” she told the Telegraph. “The fact that it shares our name made it feel very magical.”
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