NEWS

Meghan ditches her ring

After Meghan Markle is snapped without her engagement ring, adding yet further fuel to split rumours, insiders say Prince Harry has been left feeling confused

They’ve been plagued by split rumours for months, but last week Prince Harry and Meghan Markle found themselves at the centre of yet more fears for their five-year marriage, after the actress was spotted without her engagement ring.

Enjoying a belated birthday brunch with friends close to the home she shares with Harry and their children – Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet – in Montecito, California, Meghan, 42, was noticeably without the three-stone bling in a photo posted by her friend Kari Lee on social media. And reports last week claimed that Meghan was first spotted without her engagement ring back in May.

And while US outlets have reported that Meghan’s ring is currently in a jewellers being “fixed”, a source now reveals that Harry, 38, has been left feeling “confused” and “hurt” by his wife’s decision not to find a temporary replacement in the face of the continuing speculation over their marriage.

The source says, “All Meghan is doing by going out without her engagement ring is fuelling the rumours that she and Harry are having marriage troubles, which Harry is absolutely baffled by. He’s been feeling anxious that she’s trying to send some kind of message to him.

“She’s saying it’s simply a case of waiting for her engagement ring to be repaired because it’s in with the jewellers, which is true, but Harry doesn’t understand why she won’t wear something else from her extensive jewellery collection in its place.

ALTERATIONS

“He’s confused and hurt, but as usual, it’s Meghan calling the shots here.”

During their 2017 BBC interview to announce their engagement, even the romantic details of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s unlikely love story couldn’t distract viewers away from her huge diamond engagement ring.

Set on a gold band, the ring contains three stones – one sourced from Botswana, where Harry and Meghan fell in love, and the other two from Princess Diana’s own collection – and is believed to have cost Harry £140,000.

But this isn’t the first time that Meghan has had her engagement ring altered. In 2019, following the birth of Archie, the gold band of Meghan’s engagement ring was exchanged for a diamond pavé setting – adecision an expert at the time said would make the diamond “appear bigger”.

And while Meghan’s style has adapted in the seven years since she first met Harry on a ‘blind date’ in 2016, her tim