Queen Elizabeth
Touching story behind her engagement ring
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on their engagement in 1947
© Hulton Archive / Getty Images
On July 9, 1947, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip announced their engagement. The special meaning of your engagement ring will not be forgotten.
Almost exactly 74 years ago, on July 9, 1947, the celebrations took place in Great Britain: Queen Elizabeth, 95, got engaged to the then naval officer Philip, † 99. Born the Prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip first met the future queen in 1939 when she was 13 years old. Their relationship became more and more important and it is said that Prince Philip asked King George VI for the hand of his daughter in 1946. The King agreed, but the announcement was postponed until after Elizabeth’s 21st birthday.
Queen Elizabeth + Prince Philip: He designed the ring
On July 9th, the engagement was finally made public – naturally with its own photo shoot at Buckingham Palace. The pictures of the young couple in love went around the world. A diamond ring, which Philip had designed himself, sparkled on Elizabeth’s finger as a token of her love.
The three-carat ring fascinates with a large, round stone in the center, which is set in ten pavé diamonds. The diamonds were recycled from a tiara that once belonged to Philip’s mother, Princess Alice von Battenberg. He had other stones of the tiara worked into a bracelet for his future bride. The ring and bracelet were made in London by Philip Antrobus, a jeweler commissioned by Prince Philip himself for this important occasion. Even 74 years later, the style of the engagement ring has never gone out of fashion, and the Queen is still wearing her ring.
8 years ago it sparkled so beautifully on Máxima’s head
154 images
Proof of everlasting love
In November 1947, Elizabeth and Philip finally married at Westminster Abbey. Last year they celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary before Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s only great love, passed away in April 2021.
Sources used: Tatler.com