Kate Skips Wearing Her Engagement Ring For 2nd Appearance in a Row Amid Rumors She & William Are Bracing For ‘Seismic Revelations’ About Their Marriage
When you’re a royal, people notice the small things. Most of the time, it feels like the British royal family knows it, as they take great care in curating their public appearances. Sometimes, though, things slip through the cracks. For example, Kate Middleton’s engagement ring, which she was not wearing at a previous appearance, and has now been caught not wearing again.
Middleton wore pearl earrings and a garnet necklace to her first solo appearance of 2026, but she did not wear her sapphire and diamond engagement ring, which once belonged to Princess Diana. Instead, she wore a ring stack as she hosted members of England’s women’s rugby team at Windsor Castle to celebrate their World Cup victory.
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She had also not worn the engagement ring on her first appearance of 2026, alongside her husband, on January 8. Since that visit was at a hospital, there was speculation she skipped it because of hospital rules against large jewelry. But with the Princess of Wales skipping the ring for a second time, there are now questions.
According to Tatler, “it was difficult to see the exact configuration” of the rings Middleton was wearing, though the stack has included in the past her sapphire and diamond engagement ring, her Welsh gold wedding band, and an eternity ring William gifted her after she ended chemotherapy treatment in September 2024. She has also worn a ring set with smaller diamonds and a diamond-encrusted piece reportedly given to Kate after the birth of her first child in 2013.
“The princess’s choice of rings has become a matter of much discussion over the past two years,” Tatler said. During 2024, Kate didn’t wear her engagement ring all that much, but it was frequently seen in 2025. In her first two appearances of 2026, it has once again been missing.
This all comes as a new book about Middleton and Prince William’s marriage is set to be released soon. The Mirror‘s royal editor Russell Meyer wrote William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, which reportedly features never-before-heard stories about the couple.
A descriptor promises “never-before-told context about the biggest stories to have followed the Prince and Princess of Wales in recent years – including the Sussex departure, the forming of the ‘Cambridge way’, and the death of Queen Elizabeth II – and provides an unprecedented glimpse into the private lives.”
“The result is a truly intimate portrait of William and Catherine; providing not just unparallelled insight into who they are as individuals, but seismic revelations about them as a couple and the world they inhabit,” the descriptor continues. “This biography moves beyond the headlines as it explores love, resilience, and their journey together as they navigate their public duties amid this unprecedented era.”
This comes after recent reports indicate the marriage between Kate and William is at its best after her cancer battle. Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that “after the cancer diagnosis and the threat of losing her, the closeness was rekindled.”
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich agreed. “Adversity either destroys a marriage or brings couples closer after shared adversity. Certainly, their marriage has resulted in the latter not the former,” she said. “They never stoop down to ghastly gossip, which is most admirable.”
