No matter what she wears, Duchess Catherine has a habit of making fashion headlines for her classic yet fashionable wardrobe.
At her latest royal outing at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, the Duchess of Cambridge donned a chic Dolce & Gabbana tweed skirt suit accessorised with black pumps and golden drop earrings, but fashion fans found themselves focusing on what she didn’t wear- her engagement and eternity rings.
Duchess Catherine didn’t wear her engagement and eternity rings to her latest royal outing.
(Getty)As she stepped out of the car, royal fans noticed that while she was wearing her Welsh gold wedding band, her 12-carat sapphire engagement ring that once belonged to Princess Diana was not there.
On top of that, Duchess Catherine’s Eclipse diamond eternity ring, made from 18 carat white gold and thought to be a push present after the birth of Prince George, was also missing.
However, according to a report by HELLO! magazine, the reason was nothing to do with marriage tensions, but rather for health and safety reasons.
Only the royal’s Welsh gold wedding band was visible at the recent outing.
(Getty)Kensington Palace told the publication that the royal mum-of-three removed her two rings as she was visiting the children’s wards of the hospital and therefore any potential hygiene hazards were to be removed.
Hospital guidelines state that when visitors enter the hospital ward, they must wash their hands and remove larger, more ornate rings as they are likely to carry more germs than simple accessories like plain wedding bands.
This isn’t the only occasion Duchess Catherine has forgone her jewels for a hospital visit- back in January 2018 when she was pregnant with Prince Louis, the Duchess only wore her wedding band when she visited young patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
WATCH BELOW: Prince William talks about Kate Middleton’s engagement ring. Post continues after video…
Kate’s engagement ring is steeped in family history seeing as it was the same one Prince Charles proposed to Princess Diana with.
But according to The Diana Story documentary, the 12 carat oval ring, valued at approximately AUD $547,000, originally belonged to Prince Harry rather than Prince William.
After Diana tragically passed in 1997, the young princes were invited to choose a memento belonging to their mother. While Wills opted for Diana’s Cartier watch, Harry chose the ring.
But in a selfless move, when Harry found out that William was going to propose to Kate, he told his older brother: “Wouldn’t it be fitting if she had mummy’s ring?”
Duchess Catherine’s engagement ring originally belonged to Prince Harry.
(Getty)“I thought it was quite nice because obviously she’s not going to be around to share any of the fun, excitement of all this. This is my way of keeping her close to it all,” Prince William said of the reason why he proposed with his late mother’s ring.
“I just hope I look after it!” the then Kate Middleton joked before adding, “It’s very very special.”
