Prince William Doesn't Like Jewelry "He's not one for jewelry," an insider told The Mirror shortly before the big day. "He's never worn any. He decided he didn't want to wear one now. It's all down to personal preference." Keep reading to see how and where the other Royals wear their rings.
While it is now common practice for both the bride and groom to give each other a ring as a sign of their eternal devotion, a royal aide explained that Prince William's decision not to wear a ring was 'simply down to personal preference'.
In fact, the new Prince of Wales has never worn a wedding ring - and never plans to do so. In March 2011, one month before the Royal Wedding, St James' Palace confirmed that William wouldn't be wearing a wedding band.
Following Diana's death in August 1997, the sapphire ring was inherited by her son Prince Harry, who eventually offered it to his older brother Prince William before he proposed to Kate Middleton with it in 2010.
"The likely reasoning is more that while traveling on a tour such as the India trip, technically the couple are working representatives of British Monarchy," she continues. "The couple are likely to show very little PDA, if any, to remain professional during their designated roles abroad."
"The general rule of thumb to remember is that a Royal Highness does not curtsy to another Royal Highness," Myka Meier, an etiquette expert and the author of the book Modern Etiquette Made Easy, tells PEOPLE.
As Kate made her four minute walk down the aisle, Prince William did not turn to watch his bride approach as many modern grooms do, but instead kept his back to her, as per tradition that the groom should be the last person to see the bride.
'” According to Burrell, Harry wanted the ring because it represented a fond memory from his childhood. After Harry received the iconic jewel, Burrell remembers that William was happy for his brother because he's “not materialistic, so he didn't look for the flashiest jewel in mummy's collection."
After the princess' death, most of her personal jewelry was inherited by her two sons Princes William and Harry, with pieces loaned to her during her lifetime being returned to Queen Elizabeth II, where they are most likely to have been inherited by King Charles in 2022.
According to one jewellery expert, William's decision to give Kate his late mother's ring showed William was sure he had found a match his mother would have approved of.
The Duchess of Cambridge was apparently not meant to receive the ring at all, as upon Princess Diana's passing, and when her sons turned 18, the ring was passed onto Prince Harry for his future wife, while Prince William got his mother's Cartier ring.
The sapphire ring is one of a trio that Kate typically wears day to day, along with her wedding band, wrought from a special nugget of Welsh gold.
The use of the left-hand pinky finger as the wedding ring and royal signet or initial ring of the British Royal Family is an ironclad tradition dating back to the sons of Queen Victoria, who favored pinky rings in imitation of their mother as well as following German custom.
On his other wrist, Prince William sported a Garmin Forerunner 245 smartwatch. As for why the Prince of Wales often wears two watches, fans speculate that the reason behind the move is pretty practical – one watch is a timeless, sentimental piece, whereas the other is a fitness tracker.
It is likely that these jewels will be passed down to members of the Windsor family and if the Queen follows tradition, she will leave the majority of them to the next monarch, which in this case is King Charles III.
According to the royal family's official website, "there are no obligatory codes of behaviour" when meeting the sovereign or other royal family members.
The Duchess of Sussex inherited some of her late mother-in-law's most stunning pieces. Before her tragic death, Princess Diana made it clear that she wanted her stunning collection of jewelry to go to her sons' future wives.
After Diana's tragic death at the age of 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash, her jewelry was inherited by her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. The glittering pieces collected by Diana throughout her married life held enormous sentimental value to both the princess and the princes.
As for why the Queen left Meghan out of her inheritance, Radar Online's source speculated that it could be due to either “practicality” or Harry and Meghan's drama with the British royal family in the years leading up to the Queen's death.
In 2019, royal watchers noticed that something had changed with Meghan's engagement ring. Meghan's yellow gold engagement ring band, which Harry said he had chosen because it was her favorite, had been replaced with a thin micro-pavé band.
Kate Middleton made important adjustments to her engagement ring shortly before her wedding to Prince William in 2011. The Duchess of Cambridge altered the famous sapphire piece - which previously belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales - to avoid "a bride's worst nightmare."
The book reveals that Prince Harry set it upon himself to upgrade Meghan's engagement ring so it would match the new eternity band he gifted her for their first wedding anniversary, which itself featured a secret message.
what did Harry say to William? According to royal author Marcia Moody in her book Kate: A Biography (via Hello! Magazine), he said, “Right, she is here now. Well, she looks beautiful, I can tell you that.”
Walking on foot behind the coffin were the Queen's four children, King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, in military uniform, with Prince Andrew, no longer a working royal, in a morning suit and wearing medals.
They needed permission to marry.
William had to ask his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, for her consent to marry Kate, according to the Royal Marriages Act 1772, which decrees all descendants of George II must obtain the sovereign's agreement before they wed, otherwise the marriage is invalid.