Prince Philip’s Family Made 'Huge Sacrifice' For Queen Elizabeth II’s Engagement Ring

Prince Philip’s family reportedly made a huge sacrifice so that he could give Queen Elizabeth II a beautiful engagement ring.

In 1946, Prince Philip’s financial situation wasn’t very ideal, but he knew that he wanted to ask for the Queen’s hand in marriage. His stepmom, Princess Alice, offered to let Prince Philip use the diamonds in the tiara that was given to her on her wedding day.

Prince Philip accepted Princess Alice’s sweet gesture, and he teamed up with a group of jewelers to design the Queen’s engagement ring. The sparkler is a 3-carat, round cut ring with a diamond center and 10 smaller diamonds set in platinum.

On July 10, 1947, Prince Philip and Her Majesty announced their engagement to the world.

In related news, a jewelry expert opened up about the Queen’s engagement ring on ITV’s “A Very Royal Wedding” special and said that its design is actually very modest for someone like the monarch.

“The diamond that was used was approximately three carats. That’s a very nice size for an engagement ring but for a princess that’s relatively modest. Some of the diamonds that were in the tiara were much larger, so he a choice of exactly which one to choose,” the expert said (via Express).

But even though the Queen’s engagement ring appeared to be very simple, the expert said that it also proved Prince Philip knew his girlfriend very well.

“Bearing in mind the time just after the war there was a necessity and propriety in what should be an everyday ring and I’m that had an effect on the decisions. It was a very understated and simple design with deco inspiration. It showed Philip knew Elizabeth would like a ring she could wear all the time, which was a relatively new approach to jewelry because of a lot of jewelry was only worn in the evenings in those days,” the expert said.