Queen Elizabeth II of England ; The Queen’s Engagement Ring.
Credit: Bettmann/Getty ; Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
Queen Elizabeth was known for her steadfast and record-breaking 70-year reign, but her engagement ring carries a romantic history all of its own.
Elizabeth became queen in 1952 following the death of her father, King George VI, but years earlier, she married naval officer and Prince of Greece, Philip Mountbatten.
The couple announced their engagement in July 1947 after Philip proposed with a ring he designed himself. The ring, featuring a wide, brilliant-cut center stone surrounded by smaller diamonds, was crafted by the London jeweler, Philip Antrobus Ltd.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married for over 70 years, with the queen refusing to take her ring off for the entirety of their marriage, according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward.
From the proposal in postwar Great Britain to the ring’s enduring legacy today, here’s everything to know about Queen Elizabeth’s engagement ring.
They announced their engagement in 1947
Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten on July 10th, 1947 at Buckingham Palace.
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Though Elizabeth and Philip only officially announced their engagement in July 1947, the prince reportedly asked her father for her hand in marriage the summer prior.
“To have been spared in the war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and to readjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly makes all one’s personal and even the world’s troubles seem small and petty,” wrote Philip in a letter dated from 1946, according to Vogue.
The ring features 11 diamonds
Queen Elizabeth II’s engagement ring.
Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
The 3-carat diamond center stone is surrounded by 10 pavé smaller diamonds, five on each side.
The jewels, which came from Philip’s mother’s tiara, were repurposed and set into a classic platinum setting.
The diamonds came from Prince Philip’s mother
Queen Elizabeth II of England.
Credit: Bettmann/Getty
Prince Philip turned to his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg (later known as Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark), when it came time to propose to Elizabeth.
Princess Alice gave Philip her diamond and aquamarine tiara for the components to make Elizabeth’s ring. Beyond supplying a gorgeous array of jewels, the tiara had an impressive provenance, having been given to Alice by her distant relatives, Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, when she married Andrew of Greece, according to The Court Jeweler.
Philip designed Queen Elizabeth’s ring from one of the tiara’s central stones, using the additional stones to craft her a matching bracelet known as the Edinburgh wedding bracelet.
Her wedding band has a secret inscription
Princess Elizabeth and The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh after their wedding at Westminster Abbey on November 20th, 1947.
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After designing her engagement ring from the stones of his mother’s tiara, Philip added sentiment to her wedding band, fashioned from a nugget of Welsh gold supplied by the people of Wales, Seward wrote in her 2020 book Prince Philip: A Portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Philip added a secret inscription to the ring, that, according to Seward, only three people knew: the engraver, Philip and Elizabeth. The biographer also claimed that during the course of their marriage, Elizabeth never removed her ring.
They married in 1947
Princess Elizabeth with her husband Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, on their wedding day, 20th November 1947.
Credit: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty
The royal couple were married on Nov. 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey. The queen famously used clothing ration coupons to purchase her dress in an effort to align with the struggles faced by everyday people in Great Britain following the end of World War II.
The dress was designed by Norman Hartnell and was made in less than three months by 350 women in his atelier. Hartenell called it “the most beautiful dress I ever made.” Their wedding day held added significance as the first public event following the end of the war.
The ring’s whereabouts are unknown
Queen Elizabeth II wearing her engagement ring at The Windsor Horse Show on May 16, 1982.
Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
The whereabouts of Queen Elizabeth’s engagement ring are currently unknown, with speculation as to whether the ring was added to the crown jewels or is safeguarded as part of Queen Elizabeth’s private collection, royal expert Kate Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight in September 2022.
The crown jewels are owned by the nation and, by default, King Charles, whereas Queen Elizabeth’s private collection is divided among members of the royal family at her will.
While it is not known for sure who, if any, of the members of the royal family possess her engagement ring, there is speculation that the ring would have most likely been passed down to Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne.
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