The duch*ess of Sussex was seen without her three-stone diamond sparkler for most of 2023.
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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Lilly-Blomquist_BRIDES-WEB-3a470a714f044067872e08c321b66bb3.jpg "Meghan Markle Just Wore Her Missing Engagement Ring for the First Time in Months (1)")
Lilly is the associate editor at Brides. She joined the staff in 2021 and covers real weddings, wedding décor, wedding news, and more.Her work is also featured in The Knot, The Bash, and Tracy Anderson's The Edit and Tracy Anderson Mind, Body, and Soul.
Published on 01/24/24 11:25AM
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/meghan-markle-prince-harry-jamaica-premiere-recirc-getty-images-9e3ffc2a21294652bb43d301d2dd4000.jpg "Meghan Markle Just Wore Her Missing Engagement Ring for the First Time in Months (2)")
For the past several months, Meghan Markle’s engagement ring has caused a great deal of speculation. During the second half of 2023, whenever the duch*ess of Sussex made a public appearance, her three-stone diamond bauble was nowhere to be found. Now, however, it appears that Meghan’s special accessory—which she received from Prince Harry when he popped the question in 2017—is finally back on her left ring finger.
On January 23, 2024, Meghan and Harry attended a film premiere in Kingston, Jamaica, for the new musical drama Bob Marley: One Love. The duch*ess showed up for the event in a timeless black gown, and she accessorized with a pair of gold earrings, a gold bangle, and her long-lost diamond sparkler. In a photo that Jamaica’s Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte posted on X (formerly Twitter), Meghan is pictured wearing that recognizable piece of jewelry—which includes a center stone from Botswana and two smaller diamonds from the late Princess Diana’s collection.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/meghan-markle-prince-harry-jamaica-premiere-getty-images-1b5491f892924312a7fa8bdac29a574a.jpg "Meghan Markle Just Wore Her Missing Engagement Ring for the First Time in Months (3)")
Meghan was first seen without her engagement ring at a gala last year in May. Then, on August 15, 2023, a gold band took the place of her usual diamond accessory when she was was grabbing lunch with two of her friends, Cleo Wade and Kadi Lee, to celebrate her birthday. The following month, her three-stone rock was still absent from her left ringer when she attended the Invictus Games and again in November 2023 at Variety’s Power of Women gala.
There have been multiple theories as to why Meghan removed her ring. A source told Page Six in August 2023 that she took her bauble to the jewelers to receive repairs. When the royal still wasn’t seen without the rock three months later, rumors about a possible redesign started to emerge. Anya Walsh of online jeweler 77 Diamonds explained to GB News that revamping her ring is a strong contender. “Perhaps, she is looking to update her design to something a little more abstract,” Walsh posed. “She could retain the same three diamonds but rearrange them in a cluster that creates a more intriguing pattern. This is something we have seen other celebrities do in the past few years.”
Although it’s difficult to get a clear close-up shot of Meghan’s engagement ring from the photo taken at the movie premiere, it doesn’t appear that the accessory has undergone any big modifications. Based on the photo, the ring still seems to retain its three-stone feature, for instance. Since it usually takes anywhere from a few hours to a few days to fix an engagement ring, the hypothesis that Meghan was getting her ring fixed might also be a stretch. While we aren’t certain why Meghan didn't sport her engagement ring for half of 2023, it seems like the sparkler is safely nestled on her ring finger once again.
