When Buckingham Palace shared engagement portraits of Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Princess Beatrice of York, the princess’s ring was on full display. Like all royal engagement rings, it was a stunner that caught the eye of jewelry aficionados around the world. Princess Beatrice's ring was the handiwork of Shaun Leane, a Mayfair jeweler known for his collaborations with Alexander McQueen, and features two .75-carat baguette diamonds flanking a 2.5-carat round diamond.
Her sister’s royal engagement ring also turned heads. When Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank released their official engagement photos, one couldn’t help but notice her blush-colored padparadscha sapphire royal ring. Surrounded by diamonds, the rare gemstone, which is known for its unique pink-orange glow and most typically found in Sri Lanka, bore a striking resemblance to the ring her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, received from Prince Andrew in 1986. Of course the royal family is known for passing down family heirlooms as tradition, so a nod to the jewelry worn by her mother decades earlier seemed only an appropriate choice.
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Royal engagements have offered many thoughtful ring moments over the years. When Prince Harry’s engagement to Meghan Markle was announced in 2017, it was revealed that two smaller stones on her engagement ring in fact belonged to Harry’s mother, Princess Diana. He included them as a way “to make sure she is with us on this crazy journey together.” Similarly Prince William reportedly carried his mother’s sapphire engagement ring with him in his backpack for three weeks before asking Kate Middleton to marry him in 2010. (Minutes after Middleton appeared wearing it for the first time, jewelry stores around the world started getting calls from clients looking for something similar.)
And what about the rest of the British royal family? Above, see more of the best royal engagement rings.