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Princess Eugenie’s Unique Engagement Ring Was on Full Display at Recent Outing—Here’s Why It Reminds Us of Princess Diana’s

Royal bling that’s ready for its close-up

princess eugenie engagement ring cheltenham universal
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It was off to the races for Princess Eugenie and her cousin, Zara Tindall, this month as the pair stepped out—in matching burgundy—to attend the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire, England on March 12. Of course, all eyes were on the cute royal cousin hang, but we also couldn’t help but zoom in on Eugenie’s stunning engagement ring—which, given the chance to study it more closely, reminds us quite a bit of the late Princess Diana’s ring.

princess eugenie engagement ring cheltenham
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As a reminder, Princess Eugenie wed Jack Brooksbank at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor in October 2018. Her engagement ring—which she paired with a Welsh gold wedding band, a marital tradition for the royals—features a rare pink-orange padparadscha sapphire as its centerpiece with a diamond cluster bordering the stone.

Following their engagement, Eugenie’s husband Jack revealed: “I found a ring in a jewelers and then proposed to Eugenie without it and came back and we designed the diamonds around this padparadscha sapphire,” according to the BBC. He went on: “What’s amazing about it is that it changes colour from every different angle that you look at it, which is what I think of Eugenie.”

princess diana engagement ring
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Of course, at the time, a lot of a parallels were drawn between Eugenie’s ring and the one worn by her mother, Sarah Ferguson, when she wed Prince Andrew, Eugenie’s dad, in 1986. (Fergie’s ring featured a similar shape and design, but had a red ruby as the central piece.) That said, it’s hard not to also see the overlap between Eugenie’s engagement ring and Princess Diana’s—now worn by Kate Middleton—given it also included a large sapphire at the center with a halo of diamonds surrounding it. (At the time, Diana famously went against tradition and selected it out of a catalog—much like Jack, who went to the store.)

princess eugenie jack brooksbank wedding 2018
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We’ve certainly seen Eugenie’s ring on occasion over the years, but Cheltenham provided quite the close-up, delivering a sparkly pop of color we didn’t know we needed.

As for the cousin outing? With Jack and Zara’s husband, Mike Tindall, by their sides, it looked totally fun. Now, if you need us we’ll be sleuthing out Eugenie’s emerald and aquamarine earrings (surprisingly, those were Diana-like, too).



rachel bowie christine han photography 100

Senior Director, Special Projects and Royals

  • Writes and produces family, fashion, wellness, relationships, money and royals content
  • Podcast co-host and published author with a book about the British Royal Family
  • Studied sociology at Wheaton College and received a masters degree in journalism from Emerson College