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Prince William and Kate Middleton had one of the most high profile weddings in history back in 2011. The future monarch and the Duchess of Cambridge married at Westminster Abbey on April 19, 2011, after meeting at university in Scotland many years before.

The wedding was a lavish affair, as most royal do’s are – marked with an RAF flypast and coming in at around £26million, it was one of the most-watched ceremonies in royal history.

Her wedding dress was widely lauded and has since become iconic – it was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen and cost nearly half a million pounds – and has spurred countless imitations.

Kate wore the Queen’s Cartier Halo tiara on her wedding day, also known as the Cartier Scroll tiara, which was purchased by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father, for the Queen Mother in 1936.

Kate carried a bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William, ivy, myrtle and hyacinth.

After the ceremony, the newly married couple, now titled Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, travelled in a horse-drawn carriage procession to Buckingham Palace and were greeted along the streets by members of the public.

Since then they’ve had three children together – Prince’s George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte.

However, you might be surprised to know Prince William has absconded from the usual tradition of wearing a wedding ring.

Prince William has never worn a wedding ring, and according to Marie Claire, a Palace aide explained it’s because “He is not one for jewellery.”

“He’s never worn any. He decided he didn’t want to wear one now. It’s all down to personal preference.”

However, the Telegraph has suggested part of the reasoning could be tradition, too: upper-class men, especially royals and aristocrats from old families, often won’t wear jewellery, looking on it as something that simply isn’t done.

Kate does wear her wedding ring – and also dons her huge engagement ring regularly.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s engagement ring is remarkably different from the engagement rings of other royals – mostly because its centrepiece is not a diamond.

The beautiful ring has a deep blue 12-carat sapphire surrounded by a halo of 14 round diamond accents set on an 18K white gold band.

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Its significance lies in that it was originally selected by Princess Diana in 1981 shortly after accepting Prince Charles’s proposal.

For nearly a century, royal wedding bands have been made from nuggets of rare, pure Welsh gold from a specific mine: the Clogau St. David’s gold mine.

The royal women who have worn Welsh gold wedding bands include the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret, the Queen’s daughter Princess Anne, Princess Diana, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate herself.

More recently, Meghan Markle received a wedding band of Welsh gold when she married Prince Harry in back in 2018.

Princess Eugenie and her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York also had rings made of Welsh gold at their respective weddings.

As it turns out, not wearing a wedding ring is actually a common occurrence for men in the Royal Family.

William’s grandfather Prince Philip also decided to forgo a wedding ring after his wedding to Queen Elizabeth II.

His brother Prince Harry broke from the tradition and does wear a wedding ring – a simple platinum band by the same designer of Meghan’s wedding ring.

Prince Harry designed Meghan’s beautiful engagement ring himself, and it features a five-carat centre cushion cut diamond framed by two 0.75 carat round diamonds.

The ring is particularly special, given the diamonds come from Princess Diana’s personal collection.

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