Princess Diana re-designed her engagement ring from Prince Charles - for an important reason

Meghan Markle recently came under criticism for altering the engagement ring Prince Harry gave to her, but it seems she's not the first royal to do it.

Eagle-eyed royal fans recently noticed that the Duchess had swapped her simple gold band, and that the diamonds on her ring now sit on glittering, diamond-encrusted band instead.

But it seems Princess Diana was among the first to adjust her engagement ring, with Hello!magazine noticing that it had been tweaked slightly.

When she and Prince Charles first announced their engagement, back in 1981, the now-iconic sapphire ring was clasped into place with just eight prongs, attaching it to the band.

But just under two years later, photos show that the late Princess had added a further six prongs on to her engagement ring, which are visible on top of the blue stone.

It's not been revealed why Diana made the adjustment to the ring, but it's likely that it was to secure the stone further - after all, that's not the kind of jewellery you'd like to lose!

In the months before her death in September 1997, Princess Diana had removed her engagement ring following her divorce from Prince Charles.

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She would often replace the spot on her finger with other pieces of jewellery however.

Now, the stunning item belongs to the daughter-in-law Diana never met, the Duchess of Cambridge. Prince William gave his now-wife the ring when he proposed back in 2011.

In the couple's engagement interview, William revealed that it was his way of keeping his late mother close to the proceedings, even though she was not there in person.

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He said, "It is a family ring, yes. It's my mother's engagement ring. So I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all - this was my way of keeping her sort of close to it all."

Prince Harry was also keen to keep his mother's memory alive during his engagement to Meghan Markle too. For her engagement ring, the Duke chose to use "little diamonds" from his mothers jewellery collection either side of the main stone, "to make sure she's with us on this crazy journey together."