PRINCE Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, are celebrating a very special milestone today – their 25th wedding anniversary.
King Charles III’s younger brother popped the question ahead of his 1999 wedding with a £105,000 two-carat oval diamond engagement ring, which will come with “struggles”.
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Prince Edward enlisted the help of British royal jeweler Garrard when it came to Sophie’s breathtaking diamond.
He asked the question later falling in love the public relations executive for five years while they were on vacation in the Bahamas.
And it turns out the ring has a touching connection to Princess Diana.
Her iconic sapphire engagement ring, surrounded by 14 round diamonds and set in white gold, was also by Garrard – and was worn by Prince William when he proposed to Kate Middleton.
Caring for a royal ring can be tricky, according to Ben Roberts, Managing Director of Clogau – the brand responsible for the Welsh gold that royals have used to create their wedding rings since 1923 (when Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who became the Queen Mother, married the Duke of York, later King George VI).
Speaking about Diana’s 12-carat sapphire engagement ring, he said Hello! magazine: “Even without any changes, caring for such a valuable heirloom brings its own challenges.
“Kate and her team will need to carry out careful maintenance, with regular inspections and in-depth assessments, gentle cleaning to restore shine and, if necessary, specialist repairs to ensure its longevity.
“This way she can continue to use it every day and maintain a constant connection with the past, whilst also grounding her in the present as a beloved senior member of the Royal Family.”
The Garrard website states: “From Queen Mary’s consort crown to Princess Diana’s engagement ring, royal tiaras and crown jewels, our creations have become part of history itself.”
Prince Edward, 60, and his wife Sophie, 59, live largely out of the spotlight with their two children, Lady Louise Windsor, 20, and James Viscount Severn, 16.
The family live in Bagshot Park, near Windsor, and are a picture of domestic bliss compared to other royals – with Edward being the only one of the late Queen’s children who has not been divorced.
Unlike the prince, Sophie comes from a humble background.
Daughter of a tire salesman and a secretary, she worked as public relations in the Capital Radio when they met in 1987.
Edward was dating her friend at the time, but six years later they reunited after a charity event.
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Sophie continued to work for a few years after they married, before finally becoming a full-time royal in 2002, but clearly believes in instilling a strong work ethic in her children, with Lady Louise taking shifts at a garden center local.
Edward and Sophie were married on June 19, 1999 at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married in 2018.
It was a much more low-key event than the weddings of Edward’s older brothers, which were large, formal affairs at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
And instead of embarking on a Lux honeymoon abroad, the couple spent at Balmoral in Scotland.
Sophie and Prince Edward’s royal romance
When Sophie met Edward in 1987, she was a PR person for Capital Radio, but it was six years before they started dating.
They then began a romance in earnest, but did everything they could to avoid photographers, especially when Sophie began spending the night in Edward’s three-bedroom apartment at Buckingham Palace. When calling Sophie in her office, the prince used the name Richard – not that he fooled his colleagues for long.
Six years after they started dating, Edward proposed, with a £105,000 ring from Crown jeweler Garrard.
Starting a family was not easy. In 2001, Sophie suffered an ectopic pregnancy.
In 2003, the birth of daughter Louise was equally dramatic. The baby was born one month premature and Sophie lost nine liters of blood, had a cesarean section and was hospitalized for 15 days. In 2007 she had another cesarean section giving birth to her son James.
Last summer, during the holidays before the second lockdown, Edward, Sophie and their children, now aged 17 and 13, were among the first to stay with the Queen and Philip at Balmoral, and the last to leave.
Edward and Sophie decided not to use the His Royal Highness titles to which their children are entitled – instead, they styled them as children of an Earl.
Sofia told Sunday Times Magazine in 2020: “We try to educate them with the understanding that they will probably have to work for a living.
“That’s why we made the decision not to use RHS titles. They have them and may decide to use them from the age of 18, but I think that is highly unlikely.”
Kate and Prince William announced their engagement in 2010, with the royal proposing to her mother’s ring in Kenya.
At the time of its creation, the ring was worth £28,000, according to Maria Clara.
Vintage ring specialist Sam Mee currently estimates its value to be around £390,000.
For his proposal, Prince Harry used stones from Princess Diana’s collection to create a ring for Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry popped the question in 2017 with a classic gold band set with three diamonds, although Meghan later upgraded the ring to feature a diamond-set band, valued at £150,000.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
