ROYALS

What Happened to Princess Diana’s Most Famous Jewels?

From her sapphire and diamond engagement ring to her yellow gold Cartier Tank Française, some of the late princess’s most beloved pieces have ended up with her daughters-in-law, while others haven’t been seen since Diana’s death.By Hadley Hall MearesJune 26, 2026 Image may contain Diana Princess of Wales Person Accessories Adult Wedding Face and Head

Image may contain Diana Princess of Wales Person Accessories Adult Wedding Face and Head

Princess Diana wearing the sapphire necklace, gifted by the Sultan of Oman.Tim Graham Library/Getty Images

Princess Diana loved jewelry, wearing her favorite pieces over and over, even as every ring, bracelet, and earring was photographed, scrutinized and analyzed. Since her tragic death at age 36 in 1997, the almost mythical lure of her jewels has only grown.

In her will, Princess Diana left her gems to her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. “I would like you to allocate all my jewelry to the share to be held by my sons, so that their wives may, in due course, have it or use it,” Diana stipulated. “I leave the exact division of the jewelry to your discretion.”

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But the reality isn’t that simple. While Diana was gifted or purchased some of her most famous pieces, many others were loans from her family, the Royal Collection Trust, or the monarchy’s personal collection. Others were loans from major jewelry houses. While some iconic pieces have been spotted since her death, many have vanished from public view. One of the most famous examples of Diana’s “lost” jewels is the extravagant Crescent set, a bold, modern suite of diamonds and sapphires given to her by the Sultan of Oman.

For those who loved her, Princess Diana’s jewels have become precious mementos. Prince William has been spotted wearing one of her Cartier watches, and his brother Harry also has a personal attachment to certain pieces.

“I could honestly say that nothing I needed or wanted in life had been left behind, other than a few pieces of Mummy’s jewelry, and the lock of her hair in the little blue box, and the silver-framed photo of her that used to sit on my desk at Eton, all of which I’d stashed in a safe place,” Prince Harry writes of his deployment to Afghanistan in his memoir, Spare.

But for her wealthy fans, Diana’s jewels have become valuable collectors’ items and a very good investment.

Lady Diana Spencer’s fondness for jewelry started early. As a teenager she wore several gold bands from her family on various fingers. On her 16th birthday, her family gave her a gold choker with a “D” pendant. The “D” became her favorite jewelry motif, and her friends bought her another pendant necklace to celebrate her birthday. In 2017, a silver “D” necklace thought to have been owned by Diana was sold at auction for $8,000.

White pearls were a particular favorite throughout her life. When she was 18, she was gifted a three-strand pearl choker, a Spencer family coming-of-age tradition, which she wore frequently (most of Diana’s early jewelry was stolen from her London flat when she was 18). She also enjoyed wearing large “power pearl” studs throughout the 1980s. Kate Middleton shares her mother-in-law’s penchant for pearls, and has been spotted sporting several of Diana’s pearl pieces. She frequently wears Diana’s four-string pearl choker, the famous Collingwood teardrop pearl earrings, (a gift to Diana from Charles on their wedding day in 1981) and her diamond and South Sea pearl earrings.

Princess Diana adored sapphires, reportedly because they complimented her blue eyes. She also had fun with fashion, cheekily wearing priceless pieces in quirky ways, like the time she wore an Art Deco diamond and emerald choker as a bandeau around her forehead. This piece, part of the Delhi Durbar Parure and originally owned by jewel-fiend Queen Mary, had not been seen in public until Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore it at the Earthshot Prize Ceremony in 2022.

Despite her access to a jewelry box most could only dream of, Princess Diana also delighted in wearing costume jewelry. She wore big, chunky necklaces and bracelets when meeting with children, so they could play with her accessories. “I couldn’t get her out of big jewelry,” British Vogue’s Anna Harvey recalled, per Eloise Moran’s The Lady Di Look Book.

As part of her divorce settlement, Diana got to keep the jewelry that she received during her royal days, but by then, she had begun to experiment with cheaper pieces. “She becomes less and less Palacised, from wearing twin sets of pearls to single strings,” The Crown’s costume designer Amy Roberts told Vogue, “and finding her fashion identity through costume jewelry.”

Always a prankster, Diana particularly loved when the press reported that her budget costume jewelry was real. None of these costume pieces, often purchased from London’s Butler & Wilson, have been seen since her death. Their whereabouts remains a mystery.

But a few pieces of Diana’s fine jewelry have found surprising new homes. In 1997, Diana debuted part of a new suite of 187 diamonds and five South Sea pearls now known as the Swan Lake Suite. Custom designed for her by luxury British jeweler Garrard & Co., she wore the very ’90s necklace at a performance of Swan Lake at Royal Albert Hall. At the time of her death, she had not completed her purchase of the suite, and it was sold by Garrard. It most recently went up for auction in 2017, and was estimated to be worth $12 million.

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In 2023, Kim Kardashian paid £160,000 (around $214,000 today) for a massive 1920s Garrard cross necklace worn by Diana. Known as the Attallah Cross, the amethyst and diamond piece was owned by Diana’s friend, the jeweler Naim Attallah, who let her borrow it several times. She most famously wore it with a dramatic, purple-velvet high-collared gown to a 1987 gala for the charity Birthright. Kardashian sported the cross for the first time at the 2024 LACMA gala in Los Angeles, while wearing a very low-cut Gucci dress.

Then there is the mysterious case of the “starter” second engagement ring. According to his family, Diana’s boyfriend Dodi Fayed had planned to give Diana the Dis-Moi Oui diamond ring from Repossi which she picked out in Monte Carlo days before her death. After the couple’s tragic death, the ring was found in Fayed’s apartment. Inherited by his father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, the ring caused controversy when it was displayed in the Al-Fayed-owned Harrod’s as part of a memorial to the couple.

Even Diana’s archnemesis, the now Queen Camilla, has worn jewels sported by Diana, all owned by the Crown. Most noticeable is a large emerald and diamond brooch, which Camilla reset from a necklace that was gifted to Diana by Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1981.

But most of Diana’s most iconic pieces are now where she wanted them to be: owned by her two sons and their respective wives. Below, we explore the fate of Diana’s most iconic pieces, and all that they represent. “I think Diana was probably a bit of a magpie—there’s a real core identity that comes through her jewelry, because she did a lot of it herself,” Amy Roberts says. “She enjoyed it.”

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The Engagement Ring

It is probably the most famous engagement ring in the world. The main stone, a 12-carat Ceylon blue oval-cut sapphire, was chosen by the then Lady Diana in 1981. “A briefcase comes along on the pretext that [Prince Andrew] is getting a signet ring for his 21st birthday, and along come these sapphires,” Princess Diana recalled to Andrew Morton. “I mean nuggets! I suppose I chose it, we all chipped in. The Queen paid for it.”

Diana also picked out the setting, a white gold ring with 12 diamonds surrounding the sapphire, from a Garrard & Co. catalogue. The move shocked snobs everywhere, who could not believe that the future Queen of England had chosen a ring from a common catalogue.

After Diana’s death, it was reported that Prince Harry took his mother’s famous ring, while Prince William chose his mother’s favorite watch. But Prince William changed his mind when it came time to propose to Kate Middleton. He viewed using the ring for the couple’s engagement as a “way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement.”

His brother happily agreed. “Harry gave up his precious treasure,” Diana’s butler Paul Burrell remembered. “His one thing he kept from his mother, he gave to his brother. That’s selfless, kind, and exactly who Diana was.”

In the fall of 2010, William proposed to Catherine in Kenya. Initially, she seemed nervous to now be in possession of one of the world’s most famous pieces of jewelry. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “I just hope I look after it. It’s very, very special.”

Luckily the ring didn’t even have to be resized, it fit Catherine perfectly.

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The Spencer Tiara

Dating back to 1767, the Spencer Tiara has been worn by many brides from the noble family. Bucking tradition, Diana chose to wear this romantic heirloom diadem instead of one owned by the Crown on her wedding day. The tiara features swirling motifs of tulips and stars, and a central heart shaped motif.

Throughout the years, Diana would continue to wear the tiara, although it reportedly gave her a “cracking headache.” It is now owned by her brother, Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer. It was most recently seen on Diana’s niece Celia McCorquodale on her wedding day in 2018.

For her something borrowed Diana wore a pair of her mother Frances Shand Kydd’s diamond earrings. After the wedding, Frances frequently sported the earrings, poignantly wearing them at her daughter’s funeral. According to The Royal Watcher, they are now owned by Diana’s sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale, who loaned them to a traveling Princess Diana exhibit. She took them back so she could wear them to the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

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The Saudi Suite

A wedding gift from Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia, the Burmese sapphire and diamond Saudi Suite consisted of a necklace, pendants, a ring, a bracelet, earrings, and a rather gaudy watch. It was designed by Asprey. When Diana received it she was giddy. “Gosh, I’m becoming a very rich lady!” she exclaimed, per Sally Bedell Smith.

Diana was very fond of the suite and often wore the magnificent sapphire pendant and diamond bracelet. She also repurposed some of the pieces, creating an iconic midnight-blue velvet-backed sapphire and diamond choker (which she also used as a headband!), and stud cluster earrings which included detachable drop-down pendants.

Catherine has adorned herself with some of these jewels, including what appears to be a redesigned necklace and the drop-down earrings, both in her more modest, simpler style.

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The Pearl and Sapphire Choker

Diana’s signature piece, this imposing choker was Diana’s go-to for glamour. The focal point of the piece is a magnificent sapphire and diamond cluster, which was initially set as a brooch that was a wedding present from the Queen Mother. Diana had the cluster reset into a seven-strand pearl choker. She was wearing it when she danced with John Travolta in the White House, attended the Serpentine Gallery in her infamous “revenge dress,” and at the 1996 Met Gala. Now owned by her sons, it has not been seen since her death. Perhaps they believe that no other woman could do it justice.

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The Lover’s Knot Tiara

Diana’s favorite tiara, the Lover’s Knot, is owned by the Crown. Designed by Garrard, it was commissioned by Queen Mary in 1913. The breathtaking tiara features 19 diamond lover’s knot arches from which teardrop pearls dangle. After Queen Mary’s death in 1953, Queen Elizabeth inherited the ladylike tiara, and wore it when she was young. In later years, she frequently loaned it to Princess Diana. It is now the tiara of Catherine, Princess of Wales, who has worn it to numerous formal engagements.

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The Aquamarine Ring

A symbol of Diana’s liberation, this aquamarine ring was commissioned from Asprey. A gift to herself, it represented Diana’s new life post-divorce and was created to replace her iconic engagement ring. The ring features a large emerald-cut aquamarine flanked by small diamonds. The aquamarine is from a famed Brazilian mine and was given to her by one of her best friends, Lúcia Flecha de Lima.

Prince Harry gave the ring (ironically a sign of rebellion and new beginnings) to his new wife Meghan Markle in 2018. According to biographer Robert Jobson, a suspicious Prince William was anxious that Meghan would wear his mother’s jewels during the wedding. “I have been told that, still concerned about the match, he’d sought assurances from the queen that Harry’s bride would not be wearing any of Princess Diana’s jewelry,” Jobson claimed, “even though his own wife was allowed to wear it.”

But the newly minted Duchess of Sussex did wear the aquamarine ring to her wedding reception (she has only worn it publicly one other time). She also frequently wears a yellow gold Cartier Tank Française said to have been Diana’s and owns one of her diamond tennis bracelets and her playful butterfly studs. As for the next generation of royal princesses, hopefully they will also get to wear a piece from their fashionable grandmother Diana.

What Happened to Princess Diana’s Most Famous Jewels?

What Happened to Princess Diana’s Most Famous Jewels?

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