Hello my dear readers. Today we compare the jewelry of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle. Which duchess has the best wedding jewelry, personal jewelry, jewelry inherited from Diana, an engagement ring, and more?
Ever since Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle joined the royal family, they have both been photographed wearing the world’s most beautiful and expensive jewelry.
Both legendary engagement rings, bridal tiaras, and duchess jewelry have special ties to Princess Diana, the Queen, or the Queen Mother.
Many of the historic earrings, necklaces and brooches worn by the Duchesses at state dinners or other white tie occasions were brought from the Royal Vault.
What’s more, both duchesses are also known for pairing affordable fashion house jewelry with their more expensive pieces, and these little souvenirs often have a personal meaning.
Kate Middleton vs Meghan Markle’s jewelry – which is better?
Let’s take a look at the jewelry worn by both duchesses, starting with the Duchess of Cambridge, née Kate Middleton.
However, since Kate has been part of the royal family for longer than Meghan and thus had the upper hand in her royal jewelry collection, to be fair, we’ll compare the eight main types of jewelry each duchess wore to make a fair verdict.
Let’s start with Kate Middleton
1. Kate’s first jewelry gift from Prince William
The couple started dating in 2001 while studying at the University of St. Andrews.
During this time, William gave Kate a gold pearl and garnet ring that she wore on her middle finger.
The ring has a hidden romantic meaning: garnets are birthstones for those born in January (Kate) and pearls are the birthstone for William born in June.
2. Kate’s engagement ring
The engagement of William and Kate was announced in 2010.
The presented ring is truly iconic; it is a warm reminder of its original owner, Prince William’s late mother, Princess Diana.
It is set with a 12-carat blue sapphire and surrounded by 14 sparkling diamonds. It cost £47,000 in 1981 but is now valued at over £300,000.
Read more about Kate’s engagement ring here.
3. Kate’s wedding tiara.
The beautiful tiara that Kate wore to her wedding on April 29, 2011 is known as the Cartier Halo tiara. It was lent to her by the queen.
The tiara has always belonged to the royal family. Made by Cartier in 1936, it was originally an anniversary gift from King George VI to his wife, Elizabeth, whom we all know as the Queen Mother. In 1944, the Queen Mother gave the tiara to her daughter, the current Queen Elizabeth II, on her 18th birthday.
But the Queen never wore the tiara in public. Instead, she often lent it to her daughter, Princess Anne.
Then the Cartier Halo tiara disappeared from public view for years, until it was taken out for William and Kate’s royal wedding.
4. Kate’s wedding decorations.
Aside from the engagement ring and tiara, Kate’s only wedding pieces were her earrings, which are very special.
They were custom made to reflect the diamond curves of the Cartier Halo tiara above. They also include the acorn motif from the Middleton family crest.
The earrings were a gift from Kate’s parents, Michael and Carol Middleton.
After the wedding, the Duchess wore diamond earrings several times.
5. Kate’s engagement ring and eternity ring
Kate and Meghan wear the traditional engagement ring of the British royal family, a plain gold ring.
It also happens that both duchesses wear an eternity ring given to them by their husbands!
Kate’s eternity ring, a gift from William for the birth of Prince George, features a full line of square-cut diamonds.
6. Kate’s jewelry, inherited from Diana
Kate inherited at least six known pieces of jewelry from Diana’s extensive collection, which the princess left to her sons Prince William and Prince Harry in her will.
Two of Kate’s most famous pieces of jewelry that are reportedly her favorites are the sapphire set and the Collingswood pearl earrings.
The sapphire earrings and necklace shown above are from Diana’s collection, which Kate redesigned into new earrings and pendant necklace. The set, of course, also matches her blue sapphire engagement ring.
On the other hand, the elegant pearl and diamond drop earrings shown below are the ones Diana was known to wear with a white bolero jacket during her visit to New York. The earrings even appeared in the Netflix series The Crown. The pearl earrings were a wedding present that Diana received from London jeweler Collingwood, hence their name. Since then, Kate has been photographed wearing earrings several times in official photos. Like Diana, she also often paired them with the Cambridge Lovers Knot Tiara, which is also embellished with pearls, as shown above.
Learn more about 12 of Princess Diana’s most famous pieces of jewelry and rings.
7. Cocktail ring with yellow citrine
Kate has been photographed wearing it several times, including at the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, during the 2019 Wimbledon Championships and, most recently, in 2021 at the premiere of the James Bond film No Time to Die. This ring is neither a royal heirloom nor a gift from William. It is part of Kate’s personal jewelry collection, created before her marriage.
8. Necklace with initials
The Duchess of Cambridge is known for her mix of designer and fashion pieces. In 2020, the Duchess of Cambridge made headlines when she attended her mother’s picnic in Battersea Park wearing the three initials G, L and C on an £85 necklace. Of course, the original necklace was a tribute to her children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
9. Precious set
Here we wanted to select a truly grand piece of jewelry that the Duchess of Cambridge wore to a formal event. For example, the Mouawad ruby set or Queen Alexandra’s magnificent wedding necklace, which the Queen lent to Kate. However, in this case, we decided to take a look at her stunning emerald semi-parue. “Semi” because it is not considered a complete set, since it does not include a brooch. A very interesting feature of this set is that the earrings transform from studs to drops as shown above and below. The necklace is set with white diamonds, yellow diamonds and large prominent emeralds, which are located in a semicircle in the center and on a long pendant at the bottom. The product is made of platinum and white gold. The bracelet reflects the same design, with a single large emerald set in a luxurious diamond setting. Mysteriously, no one outside the Palace knows the origin of this fabulous decor. To a similar question, royal officials simply stated that it was a “personal gift” to the Duchess.
Now let’s look at Meghan Markle’s jewelry
1. Prince Harry’s first gift
Harry and Meghan first met in 2016 when a mutual friend who thought they would be a good match introduced them to each other. As the couple began to get serious about their relationship, Harry gave Meghan a necklace bearing the initials M and H. Meghan was first seen wearing the iconic romantic gift in London.
2. Engagement ring
Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in January 2017. According to Prince Harry, he was actively involved in the creation of Meghan’s ring. This is a beautiful diamond trilogy with a large cushion-cut diamond in the center and two smaller diamond solitaires on the sides. The large diamond in the center was brought from Botswana, a special place for the couple because they spent a lot of time there. Two small diamonds on the edges are from the personal collection of Princess Diana. According to Harry, for him it was a way to feel the 3 part and the presence of his mother in this important moment for him.
The ring was originally crafted in yellow gold, a classic metal that Harry says is Meghan’s favorite. However, in 2019, Meghan was spotted with a modified engagement ring. According to experts, the current value of the ring is about 200 thousand pounds.
3. Wedding tiara
Harry and Meghan got married on May 19, 2018. For her wedding look, Meghan chose a diamond and platinum tiara known as the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau, which was lent to her by the Queen. It was originally owned by Prince Harry’s great-grandmother, Queen Mary. The tiara is adorned with a geometric diamond pattern. She has an interesting detail: in the center of the tiara is a detachable brooch adorned with ten flower-shaped diamonds.
4. Wedding decorations
In addition to the tiara for the wedding, Meghan wore diamond earrings and a diamond bracelet.
The earrings she chose were simple yet elegant.
And to complete the look and beautifully play with the sleeves of her 3/4 length wedding dress, Meghan opted for a stunning Art Deco bracelet.
It matched her tiara and earrings perfectly.
Learn more about Megan’s jewelry at the wedding here.
5. Megan’s engagement ring and eternity ring
As explained above, both Meghan and Kate wear the traditional British royal family engagement ring, which is a simple band made from Welsh yellow gold.
In addition, both duchesses wear the same eternity ring given to them by their husbands.
Meghan’s eternity ring was a gift from Prince Harry on the occasion of the couple’s first wedding anniversary and the birth of Archie, their first child.
While it’s hard to capture from photographs, we can tell that this is a round cut ring with round diamonds.
6. Meghan’s jewelry, inherited from Diana
Meghan inherited at least five known pieces of jewelry from Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
Two of the most famous are Diana’s butterfly earrings and a diamond bracelet. (Meghan also inherited Diana’s aquamarine cocktail ring, but we’ll cover that in more detail in Section 7.)
The gold butterfly earrings shown above were famously worn by Princess Diana during her visit to Canada in 1986. Meghan often wears both these earrings and Diana’s blue sapphire bracelet.
The beautiful diamond bracelet Meghan wore during an interview with Oprah.
What’s more, it’s said to be the same bracelet that Harry removed two diamonds from to order Meghan’s engagement ring.
7. Megan’s aquamarine cocktail ring
The Duchess of Sussex wears a stunning aquamarine cocktail ring given to her by Prince Harry from Princess Diana’s collection.
Meghan wore the ring for the first time to her wedding reception. It was “something blue” in her image on her wedding day, a touching, symbolic gesture, reminiscent of Harry’s late mother on such a significant day.
Meghan wore the ring again when she and Harry visited Tonga as part of their 2018 royal tour.
The ring is set with a 13-carat rectangular “emerald-cut” aquamarine set in yellow gold. Aquamarine was given to Diana by her friend Lucia Flescha de Lima. Diana famously wore the ring to a gala dinner in Australia in 1996.
Since Diana and Prince Charles were divorced by then, she used an aquamarine ring to replace her famous blue sapphire engagement ring on her ring finger.
8 – Meghan’s High Street Jewelry
Meghan is known for her delicate, dainty pieces of jewelry, many of which symbolize her love for Harry and their children Archie and Lilibet, such as necklaces and pendants.
However, since we’ve already featured one such necklace at number one, we’ve chosen one of her other favorites, a shimmering diamond necklace.
9. Diamond earrings
Finally, as with Kate, we wanted to choose a large gem or diamond worthy of an official royal event to complete our comparison of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s jewelry.
The only white tie event Meghan attended as a senior royal was the 2018 State Dinner in Fiji.
During dinner, she put on stunning diamonds.
There were suggestions in the press that the most likely source of such a grandiose decoration could only be the royal treasury.
By comparing Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s nine key pieces of jewelry in each Duchess’s collection, we can see that Kate and Meghan have a knack for pairing high-end sparkling jewelery with more affordable fashion pieces.
Both have been seen re-wearing jewelry, including bridal earrings.
In terms of personal style, Meghan’s jewelry is sleeker, more modern, and arguably more trendy than Kate’s, who wears more classic pieces.
At the same time, Kate can often be seen in tiaras, parures and large jewelry borrowed from the Queen, due to the large number of official events that she attends as the wife of the Crown Prince.
Both inherited jewelry from Diana, and either they or their husbands successfully chose jewelry that suits their style and serves as a reminder of the mother of the two princes.
It is difficult to say who has the “better” jewelry collection. Both duchesses have individual style and beautifully wear their chosen jewelry. Who do you think has the best collection? Kate or Megan?
