Courtesy of the Associated Press
After months of bets being made and much speculation, Prince William and Kate Middleton have announced their engagement. It’s pretty impressive that they were able to keep it a secret for as long as they did. All eyes have been on the couple and the Royal Family trying to find any hints of an engagement, and today the couple announced that they have been engaged since October. Ever true to their quest for privacy, Prince William popped the question while the couple was enjoying a secluded safari trip in Kenya last month. Infusing much sentimentality to the occasion, William offered Kate his late mother’s engagement ring, which is a stunning oval sapphire ring surrounded by a glistening cluster of fourteen round-cut diamonds. The Prince was quoted as saying that giving his future wife something that once belonged to his mother, the late Princess Diana, was very important to him as it ensured that she was sharing in all of the excitement that they were experiencing and would continue to experience in their new life together. At the time of her engagement to Prince Charles in 1981, Diana chose the 18 carat sapphire and diamond ring from the catalogue of famed London Jewelers, Garrard Jewellers. At the time it seemed very controversial that the soon to be princess chose a ring that could be bought by the public, but it soon turned into “the” symbol of the engaged couple. With many commenting on whether the Prince was wrong to give his fiancée a second hand ring from a broken marriage, I have to comment on the opposite. I think Prince William using his mother’s ring enriches the occasion with a level of sentimentality and tradition. Kate Middleton seems to share many of the qualities once expressed by Princess Diana and what a fitting tribute than to be continually reminded of such a profound figure in her soon to be husband’s life than to wear her engagement ring? Now Kate will be walking down the aisle with something borrowed AND something blue.
On your mark, get set, GO! As if we weren’t inundated enough with all of the celebrity engagements that have taken place over the past few weeks and with all eyes on Britain for a possible Royal Engagement, another celebrity couple is getting ready to take a walk down the aisle. It seems just minutes after Nick Lachey announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend, Vanessa Minnillo, his former wife, Jessica Simpson has announced her engagement to boyfriend of only five months, Eric Johnson. Although Johnson has commented publicly that the timing of his proposal to Simpson was completely coincidental as the date he proposed has special meaning to their relationship, gossipers are abuzz with the timing of both of the engagements and are now asking who will say I Do first? Although Minnillo and Simpson were once friends, I don’t think they will be exchanging wedding tips and advice with one another or serving in each other’s bridal parties. With this being Simpson’s second marriage, it seems wise that Johnson went with a subdued yet classic Neil Lane three stone engagement ring, which features a round-cut ruby center stone flanked by two round-cut diamonds. Does it however, stand up to the 4.5 carat showstopper now decorating the soon to be Mrs. Nick Lachey’s left hand?
Celebrity engagements have definitely grabbed our attention lately with Dancing with the Stars Pro, Karina Smirnoff getting engaged with a breathtaking 4.5 carat Asscher cut diamond and the adorable couple of Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo getting ready to say “I Do” with an Asscher cut diamond flanked by trapezoids by Bader and Garrin, our focus is now shifted across the pond as growing speculation is swirling around Prince William and longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton. The couple began dating while attending University in 2003 and after a brief split in 2007, the couple seems to once again be going strong.
Royal watchers have long been predicting the impending engagement of the extremely private couple, but rumors have definitely begun to swirl with the couple making very public appearances recently at a friend’s wedding in the English countryside and with both of their families vacationing together with the Queen at her royal estate of Balmoral.
As we all wait with baited breath for the Queen’s wall post on her newly established Facebook page, we are all left wondering…. will the prince continue the trend by proposing to his princess with an Asscher engagement ring?
