Prince Harry Knew Meghan ‘Was the One’ — She Changed Her Ring after Private Engagement before Telling the Public

• Meghan Markle had already said “yes” when she graced the cover of Vanity Fair to confirm that she was dating Prince Harry.

• The Duchess of Sussex changed her engagement ring with Princess Diana’s gem.

A recent book by royal author Valentine Low revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were long engaged before announcing the news to the world. Markle even made changes to her engagement ring.

Per the Daily Express, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were engaged to be married in November 2017.

The news came just over a year after the couple started dating. However, according to a new book by Valentine Low, the lovebirds secretly got engaged months before making their engagement public.

In the “Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown,” book, Low claims Prince Harry popped the big question four months before Buckingham Palace made an official statement announcing their engagement.

It is believed the royal couple began their whirlwind romance in July 2016. If Low’s claims are factual, it would mean Prince Harry asked Markle to marry him following less than a year of being an item.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England ┃Source: Getty Images

When asked how he knew the former actress was the one, the prince said: “The very first time we met.” The Palace released a statement in July 2016 which read that the royal couple had gotten engaged in London and that the prince had told his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, including other close Royal Family members.

The statement also revealed that the British native had asked for Markle’s parent’s blessings, and they approved him to ask for their daughter’s hand in marriage.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry watch the Land Rover Driving Challenge, on day 1 of the Invictus Games 2020 at Zuiderpark on April 16, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands ┃Source: Getty Images

Low claims it is possible that the American native had already accepted the prince’s proposal when she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair to confirm that she was dating him.

Following their public engagement announcement, the royal couple attended to the press outside Kensington Palace. One reporter asked Prince Harry whether his proposal was romantic. He replied: “Of course, it was.”

Prince Harry Designed His Wife’s Engagement Ring

According to Brides.com., the Duke of Sussex designed his fiancee’s three-stone ring, which featured a three-carat cushion cut center diamond and was sourced from Botswana.

The jewels once belonged to the prince’s late mother, Princess Diana. The center stone consists of two round diamonds from the Princess of Wales’s jewelry collection.

Meghan Markle attends an Anzac Day Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on April 25, 2018 in London, England ┃Source: Getty Images

The design is set on a gold band, which happens to be Markle’s favorite, and was made by royal jeweler Cleave and Company.

Gemologist, Grant Mobley, estimated the price range of the center diamond, saying it could be worth about $95,000 – $155,000. As for the side diamonds, he guessed that they could have cost $5,000 each while hinting that because they belonged to the Princess of Wales, they would be worth more:

“Anything belonging to the People’s Princess is always going to be worth more.”

Meghan Markle attends the Land Rover Driving Challenge, on day 1 of the Invictus Games 2020 at Zuiderpark on April 16, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands ┃Source: Getty Images

Interestingly, after Markle and Prince Harry announced they were expecting their first child together, people noticed her engagement ring missing from her finger. Media reports later revealed that the mother-to-be’s ring had been taken for alterations.

Her husband had enlisted celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz to resize and reset the ring so that the original simple piece was replaced with a thin, yellow gold band set with micro-pave diamonds. The new wedding band was later noticed on the Duchess of Sussex’s finger at the Trooping the Color parade in June 2019.

Meghan Markle attends an Invictus Games Friends and Family reception at Zuiderpark on April 15, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands ┃Source: Getty Images

Per Hello Magazine, it was not Markle’s decision to have the ring changed because she loves gold jewelry. In a royal biography, “Finding Freedom, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand explained that it was a “surprise from her husband:

“On May 19, 2019, Harry surprised his wife of one year with the gift of a ring.”

The ring paid tribute to the couple and their son Archie’s birthstones “peridot, sapphire, and emerald on the underside of the ring.” Markle’s favorite jeweler, Lorraine Schwartz, reportedly informed the authors that the now father of two wished to make “the eternity ring ‘special.'”

During the Sussexes’ interview with the BBC, within hours after announcing their engagement, Prince Harry divulged that he incorporated pieces from his mother’s collection so that they could make her a part of their “crazy journey together.”

Markle’s Two Rings – Her Wedding Band & Eternity Ring

The Duke and Duchess wed at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, where the groom presented the bride with a yellow gold band. The jewelry piece, crafted from Welsh gold, was also a gift from her grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, which has been passed down from generation to generation.

Per Brides, Welsh gold is said to be the rarest type of gold and the most expensive. During the Trooping the Color Parade in 2019, Markle also sported a sparkly eternity ring joined with the newly-altered engagement ring and the original band to form the holy trinity of ring stacks.

Meghan Markle travels down The Mall in a horse drawn carriage during Trooping The Color, the Queen’s annual birthday parade, on June 8, 2019 in London, England ┃Source: Getty Images

Its main features include flanks on both sides of the ring and gold trim. It was a surprise from Prince Harry as a first-anniversary present and a celebration of the couple’s first child together, son Archie.

In addition, Markle and Prince Harry’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, also dons three rings on her wedding finger. The recently-minted Princess of Wales dons a massive sapphire engagement ring, a Welsh gold and a rose gold style. The sapphire once belonged to Middleton’s mother-in-law Princess Diana.

Kate Middleton attends the launch the King’s Cup Regatta at the Cutty Sark, Greenwich on May 7, 2019 in London, England ┃Source: Getty Images

Per The Sun, the Eclipse Diamond Eternity Ring by Annoushka was a gift from her husband, Prince William, following the birth of their first child, Prince George of Wales. It is a 0.23-carat diamond ring alongside the mother of three’s wedding band, made from Welsh gold.

The Prince of Wales is also believed to have gifted his wife a rose gold style while they were still studying at St. Andrew’s in the early stages of their relationship. Middleton was spotted wearing the piece of jewelry – which features the duo’s birthstones – at their graduation ceremony in 2015.

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