Princess Margaret’s engagement ring was just as much of a rule breaker and trendsetter as she was. As her only granddaughter Lady Margarita Armstrong Jones discusses the ‘timeless’ piece and its origin story – let’s take a look at the royal rings that have emulated its style.
- Princess Margaret’s engagement ring has subsequently inspired countless pieces across the globe but there are two famous royal rings that are also very similar.
- It’s just been revealed by her granddaughter Lady Margarita that the ring was actually created by her then fiancé Anthony Armstrong Jones and had the most romantic concept.
- In other royal news, Where to buy Kate Middleton’s Veja sneakers that are her go-to for wearing with blazers – and Meghan loves them too.
Princess Margaret’s granddaughter’s modeling debut revealed plenty about not only the young lady herself – but her late grandmother too. Though much has been written of Princess Margaret’s romances, the untraditional royal’s royal rock has been relatively mysterious.
Speaking to Tatler, in her very first cover shoot, Princess Margaret’s granddaughter Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones discussed Princess Margaret’s engagement ring and its less-than-traditional history.
Lady Margarita has an artistic flare, as evidenced by her chosen studies, photography and jewelry, at the Haute École de Joaillerie in Paris. Her talents, some may say, are very much inherited from her grandparents.
Her late grandfather the Earl of Snowdon, Anthony Armstrong-Jones, also known as Tony, was a very gifted photographer but did you know he also designed and made jewelry? Amazingly, he even made Princess Margaret’s engagement ring.
Considering Princess Margaret’s extravagant lifestyle, the romantic and artsy origin of this ring may be surprising to some – but the stunning piece is just as high-end as you’d expect. Per Tatler, the piece was a, “pink-red ruby stone surrounded by diamonds-as-petals to look like a rosebud, the ring was a nod to Rose, her middle name.”
Lady Margarita explained that the piece was, “very simple and very small and I think that’s probably what he wanted, nothing crazy and overstated. It’s timeless.”
Since it was created, it’s become a popular style among other royal ladies, including Sarah Ferguson – who received a very similar piece from her now ex-husband Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew proposed to Sarah Ferguson with a stunning Burmese ruby engagement in March 1986.
Sarah Ferguson’s engagement ring features a huge Burmese ruby, surrounded by 10 sparkling diamonds. The stones form a flower pattern, which is also known as a cluster ring.
Only last year, Sarah Ferguson called her marriage to Prince Andrew a ‘fairytale’ but this fairytale didn’t have quite the happy ending as she split from the controversial Prince back in 1996.
Subsequently, their second daughter Princess Eugenie’s engagement ring emulated the style. Princess Eugenie’s engagement to her boyfriend of seven years, Jack Brooksbank, was announced in 2018. Royal watchers instantly noticed it looked a lot like her mother’s ring.
The stunning piece features a light pink, padparadscha sapphire, surrounded by diamonds. The dusky pink sapphire, which is one of the rarest of sapphires, generally hails from Sri Lanka, and usually costs around several thousand pounds.
Per town&country, when Jack was asked about the story behind the ring on a TV appearance, he shared, “I went and found an amazing padparadscha sapphire but then didn’t want to do anything until Eugenie had signed off on it.”
Back in 2006, years after her death in 2002, her children made the difficult decision to auction some of her jewelry to help cover the taxes on her estate – but her engagement ring was not for sale.
The auction, at the legendary Christie’s, made a remarkable $11,718,431 (£9,598,160).
It’s unclear who has possession of Princess Margaret’s engagement ring now, but it’s believed that one of her children owns it. Perhaps one day, it may even adorn her granddaughter’s ring finger. Only time will tell!
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