Earlier this week, Vanity Fair reported that Kate Middleton’s trip to Italy had an unofficial Eat, Pray, Love theme—appropriate, considering that this is her first solo trip since her cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2024. The “eat” aspect was central to her agenda on Thursday, when she arrived at an agritourism site in rural Felino to take a cooking class.
Clearly, the “love” aspect is merely metaphorical—she is still married, of course. This was underlined by a photo of Kate kneading dough wearing her engagement ring, the one with a huge sapphire in the middle. This is her 12-carat Ceylon sapphire, surrounded by 14 round diamonds on a platinum band—a bauble formerly owned by her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.
Kate gets a lesson in pasta-making.Photo by Phil Noble via Samir Hussein/WireImage.
If Kate’s rock—or collection of rocks—isn’t the biggest engagement ring in history, it may be the one with the most symbolism. Back when he was still the Prince of Wales, King Charles purchased it for Diana at the royal jeweler Garrard in the run-up to their 1981 wedding. Journalist and fashion expert Suzy Menkes said that the ring cost about 28,500 British pounds at the time, which in today’s dollars would be almost $190,000. (And the symbolism of the ring means that it would be worth much, much more—if it were ever up for sale.) Diana continued to wear the ring after her separation and divorce, and who can blame her?
After her 1997 death, it was held along with a selection of other jewels and keepsakes for her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, to give to their future wives. Prince William presented the ring to Kate when they were engaged in December 2010.
Because the ring is a national treasure, there’s long been feverish coverage devoted to when and where Kate chooses to wear it since her wedding. Kate usually takes the ring off for particularly messy engagements, like Girl Scout meetups, or physically intense ones, like military exercises. She also takes it off during engagements at hospitals, and during the handwashing and work-from-home phase of the pandemic, she was photographed without it. But she’ll keep it on for some surprisingly intense activities, including a game of netball or a charity sailing event.