Meghan Markle was given a £15,000 bracelet, glimpsed for the first time on the eve of her wedding, as a gift from King Charles to welcome her to Royal Family. The gorgeous piece of jewellery was created for the Duchess by royal warrant holders Bentley & Skinner.
Made of ninety-two round brilliant-cut diamonds, weighing a total of 2 carats, set in white gold, may have cost up to £15,000.
The touching gesture from Prince Charles, who would walk the soon-to-be Duchess down the aisle in lieu of her own father, was an appropriate way to welcome Meghan to the family given Bentley & Skinner’s royal connection.
The jewellery, based in Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly, London are Jewellers by Royal Appointment to King Charles, as at the time was also to Her Majesty the Queen.
The company began supplying jewellery to the Royal Family during Queen Victoria’s reign. It has created aristocratic jewellery, including a diamond coronet for his wife Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.
Meghan wore the bracelet often during her early days as a working royal, and it was officially revealed to be a gift from Charles during Meghan and Harry’s first royal tour, in Fiji.
Prior to this, Meghan had worn the gift to Charles’s 70th birthday celebrations as a sweet tribute. It seems the Duchess of Sussex hasn’t worn the gift in almost a year.
According to the style blog Meghan’s Mirror, the mum-of-two last wore the bracelet on April 17, 2022, during the Invictus Games in The Hague.
She wore the bracelet with a chic white blazer, jeans, designer sunglasses and heels. But since the Duchess has favoured other jewellery.
This includes a £20,000 Cartier tank watch in gold, given to her by Prince Harry who was left the piece by his late mother Princess Diana. She has matched the piece with her Cartier Love Bracelet, £6,600.
It’s not known why the Duchess has consigned her bracelet from Charles to the jewellery box for now, but a lot has changed for the Royal Family since she last wore the bracelet.
When Meghan was last wearing the bracelet, she and her husband were filming for their anticipated Netflix documentary series, which completed filming by August 2022 just a few months before Harry and the Duchess attended the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving in June 2022. Sadly the Queen died in September 2022.
In December Harry & Meghan aired on Netflix, causing headlines for weeks. In the documentary, Harry & Meghan accused the offices of other working royals of briefing the press against them during their time as working royals.