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Eugenie on her wedding day and Jack Brooksbank and Eugenie at their engagement interview© Getty

Why Princess Eugenie's engagement ring from Jack Brooksbank is so rare

Jack Brooksbank proposed during a trip to Nicaragua in 2018

Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
Updated: February 21, 2024
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Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have settled into their lives as a family-of-four to their two young sons, August and Ernest.

The couple will celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary in October, but have been together for 14 years, having met on a ski holiday in Verbier, Switzerland

After Eugenie shared a sweet unseen snap of her husband to mark Valentine's Day last week, it made us think back to their engagement.

Buckingham Palace shared the happy news in January 2018 that Jack had proposed during a trip to Nicaragua.

Find out more about the very beautiful and unique engagement ring he chose for Princess Eugenie.

What does Princess Eugenie's engagement ring look like?

A close-up of Princess Eugenie's padparadscha sapphire engagement ring© Getty
A padparadscha sapphire is a rare jewel

The ring features an oval-cut Padparadscha sapphire surrounded by a halo of diamonds set on a gold band and flanked by two further pear-shaped diamonds.

Eugenie's engagement ring is strikingly similar to that of her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York.

Sarah Fergusons's Burmese ruby and diamond engagement ring© Getty
Sarah, Duchess of York's engagement ring

Prince Andrew proposed to Sarah with a big central Burmese ruby ring, surrounded by diamonds in a floral-shaped design, made by Garrard & Co in 1986.

Why is Princess Eugenie's engagement ring so rare and how much is it worth?

couple posing for engagement photos© Getty
Eugenie and Jack at their engagement photocall in January 2018

The striking design, chosen by Jack, contains a padparadscha sapphire, a very rare jewel which has a beautiful pinkish-orange glow and is usually found in Sri Lanka.

Speaking in their engagement interview, the businessman told the BBC at the time: "I found a ring in a jeweller, and then proposed to Eugenie without it. We came back and designed the ring with diamonds around it."

He added that the Padparadscha sapphire reminded him of his fiancée, as "it changes colour when it hits certain lights, much like Eugenie".

According to the Natural Sapphire Company: "Padparadscha sapphires are one of the rarest of sapphires. These extremely rare stones are unknown to most, but when discovered usually become an absolute favorite. They are strikingly beautiful and almost no other coloured stone compares to this unique mix of pink and orange."

The name is an ancient Sanskrit word used to describe the colour of a tropical lotus flower.

Eugenie's ring is estimated to be worth between £100,000 to £120,000.

A close-up of Princess Eugenie's engagement and wedding rings

Close-up of Princess Eugenie's engagement and wedding rings© Getty
Princess Eugenie's engagement and wedding rings

On her wedding day on 12 October 2018, Eugenie chose a ring made from pure Welsh gold, which now sits under her Padparadscha sapphire engagement ring. 

Members of the royal family have used the gold to create their wedding bands since Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later the Queen Mother) married the Duke of York on 26 April 1923 – and most are thought to be fashioned out of the late Queen Elizabeth II's personal collection from the Clogau St. David Gold Mine in Dolgellau, Wales.

Fancy seeing more royal engagement rings? Watch the video below on the most expensive of all time...

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