Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth – for British royal family wedding rings, only the world’s most expensive gold, from Wales, will do

Aug 22 , 2020

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, places the wedding ring on the finger of Meghan Markle during their wedding in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 2018. Photo: AFP

While celebrities tend to go for lavish weddings, topped off with rings adorned with diamonds to rival the bling of their engagement rings, British royals – from the Duchess of Cambridge to the Duchess of Sussex – normally opt for more understated traditions. They may have their pick of ancient chapels and rituals, but for nearly 100 years Britain’s senior royals have worn plain yellow gold wedding rings, made from regal metal derived from Wales – the rarest, most expensive in the world, with Welsh gold bullion worth up to five times the spot price.

The custom started with the queen mother in 1923 when a nugget of pure gold from the Clogau St David’s mine in North Wales was gifted to the royal family, a piece of which was used to make the then-Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s wedding ring for her marriage to the future King George VI. That same nugget was used to craft wedding bands for Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Princess Diana.

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Handily, in the 1980s the queen was gifted more gold from Wales; 36kg was presented by the Royal British Legion, part of which was used to make Sarah, Duchess of York and, it is thought, Sophie, Countess of Wessex’s wedding rings. A further 1kg was gifted from Gwynfynydd Gold Mine in celebration of the queen’s 60th birthday. This is likely the source of Catherine and Meghan’s wedding rings.

Ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s nuptials, St James’s Palace made the statement: “The wedding ring that Catherine Middleton will wear will be made of Welsh gold. The gold was given to Prince William by the queen shortly after the couple were engaged. It has been in the family's possession for some years and has been in the care of the royal jewellers. There are no further details on which mine the gold was mined from.”

Sitting half-hidden by her huge sapphire engagement ring, Catherine’s slim yellow gold wedding band was made by royal warrant holders, Wartski. Fittingly, the jeweller was founded in North Wales and has a store in St James’, just around the corner from Prince William’s London home at the time.

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Similarly at the time of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s marriage, Kensington Palace made the statement: “Ms Markle's ring has been fashioned from a piece of Welsh gold, gifted by Her Majesty The Queen.” The band was made by Cleave and Company which also holds royal warrants and is the jeweller Prince Harry chose to create his now-wife’s engagement ring. A spokesperson for Cleave says they were asked to produce “a classic 18-carat gold wedding band” for the duchess. The ring appears to be daintily slim, in keeping with Meghan’s apparent fondness for delicate jewellery.

Gold hasn’t been extracted in Wales since 1998, however Alba Mineral Resources, which took over Clogau in 2018, plans to reopen the mine and has also submitted an application for exploratory digs on nearby land in Snowdonia. So there could be a new Welsh gold rush on the way which would ensure the royals’ wedding ring tradition continues for some years yet.

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Royalty

Diamond wedding rings? Not for us – gold nuggets gifted to the British royal family established a century-long custom for simple wedding bands – in contrast to more showy celebrities