Can you guess what Meghan Markle has in common with the Queen Mother? It’s true that their birthday is in August, but there’s more to it than that…

It’s hard to know exactly what the late Queen Mother would have made of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.

The Queen Mother certainly had a sense of drama and occasion. The two women also shared a birthday, August 4, albeit 81 years apart.

But that’s where the similarities seem to end.

After all, the Queen Mother was a stickler for doing things by the rules. And she had no desire to shake up the monarchy. Quite the opposite.

Meanwhile, her view of a previous American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, had been far from favourable…

When it comes to engagement rings, however, the Queen Mother and Meghan have something very much in common: their original rings, presented by their future husbands, were “improved.”

The Duchess was spotted wearing a different band less than two years later in the summer of 2019

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married into the royal family at Westminster Abbey in April 1923. Her engagement ring contained a large Kashmir sapphire

The Queen Mother decided to exchange her sapphire engagement ring for one with a single large pearl surrounded by a halo of diamonds

Prince Harry proposed to Meghan in November 2017 with a glittering ring consisting of a solid yellow gold band set with three diamonds.

Harry told the BBC at the time: “Obviously the ring is yellow gold because that’s Meghan’s favorite and the main stone itself I got from Botswana and the little diamonds on either side are from my mum’s jewelery collection, just to make sure they are with us on this crazy journey together.’

But less than two years later, in the summer of 2019, royal guards noticed that the original ring had been modified.

According to the authors of find freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, Harry upgraded Meghan’s engagement ring to match the eternity ring he gave as a gift for their first wedding anniversary.

Jewelry expert Arabel Lebrusan confirmed that the ring appeared to have changed, suggesting it was more American in style compared to the version of the ring Harry gave her.

How the ring was changed remains unclear, although the authors of Finding Freedom, a favorable biography of Harry and Meghan published in 2020, suggest that the ring was changed at Harry’s behest.

Arabel, owner of the ethical jewelery brand Arabel Lebrusan, said: ‘She now has small diamonds on the sides of her engagement ring and the band also seems thinner than before.

“A lot of celebrities do this because the center stone looks bigger compared to the wow factor.”

Prince Harry with Meghan Markle after announcing their engagement at Kensington Palace in November 2017

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (then Prince Albert, the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth-Bowes Lyon) pictured together around the time of their engagement in January 1923

The Queen Mother was born on the same day as Meghan Markle 81 years earlier in 1900. This year would have been her 123rd birthday

“The diamond setting on the band looks like micro-set, this means there is very little metal between the stones, maximizing the sparkle of the tiny diamonds.”

“It suits her style perfectly and also her dainty fingers.”

Meghan turned 42 earlier this month.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex – who usually celebrate their birthdays out of the public eye – were seen in high spirits, smiling and laughing, as they left the trendy Tre Lune Italian restaurant in the picture.

Nearly a century earlier, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon accepted a proposal from Prince Albert, Duke of York in 1923, having rejected him twice before.

The Queen Mother received a Kashmir sapphire ring – featuring one of the rarest and most valuable sapphires due to its striking color.

However, she didn’t wear this piece for long and eventually exchanged it for a single large pearl surrounded by a halo of diamonds.

Joanna Wyganowska, Design Expert & Gemmologist at Queensmith, shared The Express“The Queen Mother was first presented with a rare sapphire engagement ring with diamond details, but in the 1940s had chosen an alternative ring that was a bit more ‘her’.

“Originally she refused to marry Prince Albert for fear of losing her freedom, but the switch from a typically very regal stone, a sapphire, to an unexpected pearl is very characteristic of the Queen Mother and who she was.”

The Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep at home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor in March 2002 at the age of 101.