Prince Harry’s story about how he acquired his late mother’s engagement ring has been sensationally debunked by Princess Diana’s butler Paul Burrell.
The brand-new account comes in light of claims made in the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare in which he wrote that the long told story about him giving his older brother Prince William their mother’s ring, despite inheriting it himself, was ”absolute rubbish.”
”I never gave Willy that ring because it wasn’t mine to give. He already had it,” Harry wrote.
”He asked for it after Mummy died, and I’d been more than happy to let it go.”
William and Catherine pose for their official 2010 engagement photoshoot. Diana’s ring is clearly depicted on Catherine’s ring finger.
(IMAGE: Getty)
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As the story has long been told, Harry reportedly swapped Diana’s engagement ring for her gold Cartier Tank watch that William had chosen.
But Harry says that the tabloids made the story all up.
“The papers published florid stories about the moment I realised Willy and Kate were well matched, the moment I appreciated the depth of their love and thus decided to gift Willy the ring I’d inherited from Mummy, the legendary sapphire, a tender moment between brothers, a bonding moment for all three of us: none of it ever happened,” Harry wrote in Spare.
Princess Diana originally wore the ring as her engagement ring which was presented to her by King Charles on February 24, 1981. At the their engagement Diana was 19 and Charles was 32.
(IMAGE: Getty)However, Paul says Harry is the one making up stories, telling The Mirror that Harry was indeed the new owner of the ring following Diana’s tragic death in 1997.
”Harry said to me, I always remember holding mummy’s hand and that ring hurting me because it was so big,” Paul said.
”And that’s why, when the boys came to Kensington palace, I said to them, you must take something of your mother’s, you must take something to remind yourself of your time here at Kensington Palace and your mother’s life.
”So, William piped up ‘I’d like the Cartier tank watch’, which Grandpa Spencer gave her for her 21st birthday because I remember mummy wearing that, keeping the time.
Meghan now wears the a Cartier watch originally worn by Diana.
(IMAGE: Getty)”Harry said, ‘Well can I have mummy’s engagement ring? Because that’s the ring I remember from my childhood.
”So, the boys went away with two very different prizes from their mother’s life.”
Burrell then explained that when it came time for William to ask Kate to marry him “some deal must have been done behind the scenes because Harry had the ring, so Harry obviously gave up his treasure to his brother”.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex now wears Diana’s watch whilst Catherine, the Princess of Wales was given the sapphire ring when William proposed in 2010.
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