King Charles has been married twice: he married his first wife, Lady Diana Spencer, on July 29, 1981 and his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, on April 9, 2005. Not a big fan of comparing women to other women, but it is interesting to look at their respective engagement rings and compare the two (and they could hardly be more different).
Charles’ engagement to Diana was announced on February 24, 1981, just five months before they married at St. Paul’s Cathedral. (One member of the audience that day? Camilla, who had dated Charles before marrying husband Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973 and remained his close friend—maybe too close.) In Andrew Morton’s 1992 biography of Princess Diana, Charles and Diana’s proposal is “described as brief,” according to Town & Country. Apparently Charles and Diana were in the nursery at Windsor Castle when Charles “asked her simply to marry him.” Diana’s response? A giggle, thinking it might be a joke.
Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles announcing their engagement.
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“The prince was deadly serious, emphasizing the earnestness of his proposal by reminding her that one day she would be Queen,” Morton wrote. But Diana had a “small voice inside her head [that] told her that she would never become Queen but would have a tough life.” Regardless, Diana said yes, and told him repeatedly how much she loved him. “Whatever love means,” Charles replied—a line he would infamously repeat in their engagement interview.
Princess Diana.
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Princess Diana.
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Charles then called his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and told her the news: they were engaged. According to Brides, Charles proposed with a 12-carat sapphire and diamond ring (which daughter-in-law Kate Middleton now wears). Diana actually chose her own engagement ring from a Garrard’s catalog, “which broke with royal tradition at the time,” Brides reported.
The ring features an oval-cut sapphire sourced from Sri Lanka surrounded by 14 round-cut solitaire diamonds and set in 18-karat white gold. In 1981, the ring cost between $37,500 and $60,000; in today’s dollars, it’s worth approximately $520,000. But, as Brides put it, “several factors contribute to the high price tag of the sparkler, including inflation, the rarity of the jewels, and the fact that it’s now Kate Middleton’s engagement ring.”
Kate Middleton and her engagement ring on November 16, 2010.
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Many moons later, Charles and Camilla’s engagement was announced on February 10, 2005; the longtime couple (including during his marriage to Diana) would marry two months later at Windsor Castle. When Charles proposed, he’d known Camilla for 35 years, and unlike with Diana, got down on bended knee for their proposal, as Camilla told The Telegraph.
“Of course,” she said when asked if Charles got down on one knee. “What else?”
Camilla Parker Bowles on February 10, 2005.
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Camilla Parker Bowles on February 10, 2005.
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That said, little else is known about their actual proposal, but we do know what he proposed with: a platinum engagement ring with a five-carat emerald-cut diamond with three baguettes along either side in what Town & Country described as “an Art Deco design.”
The Queen Mother wearing what would become Queen Camilla’s engagement ring.
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Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles on their April 9, 2005 wedding day.
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The outlet added that “the piece is believed to have come from the Queen Mother’s collection—she was seen wearing the ring in the 1980s—though its origins prior to that are unclear.” Brides reported, however, that the ring was given to the Queen Mother by her husband, King George VI, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth’s birth in 1926. The heirloom jewel is estimated to be worth $288,000, according to Brides—significantly less money than Diana’s (and now Kate’s) memorable sparkler.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall on October 15, 2019.
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Queen Camilla and King Charles on July 26, 2023.
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Charles and Camilla—now, of course, King Charles and Queen Camilla—celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary just last month. When asked what their secret to a happy marriage is, Camilla pointed to “laughing at the same things” as what has kept them together for so long.