As is tradition, Prince Harry is expected to slip a very royal wedding ring on Meghan Markle's finger during their wedding ceremony in Windsor on 19 May - and if the bride is planning on taking after those before her, it will be made of rare Welsh gold. The royal wedding tradition goes back 88 years, and was most recently continued by the Duchess of Cambridge, who chose a band made out of the precious metal for her wedding to Prince William in 2011.
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But in fact, if the couple are planning to stick with tradition, Prince Harry won't have a wedding ring of his own - as very few men in the monarchy have chosen to wear one. When big brother William married, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh, and uncles the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex, who all chose not to wear the symbol of marriage.
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Lucky for Meghan, royal brides have historically been given wedding rings made from the golden nuggets of Clogau St David's mine at Bontddu, North Wales. Duchess Kate's wedding ring - a plain, slim gold band - was made by royal warrant holders Wartski and fashioned from a piece of Welsh gold given to William by his grandmother the Queen as a gift to mark his 2011 wedding.
Duchess Kate's simple gold band
The Queen Mother began the tradition of Welsh gold royal wedding rings after the precious metal was used to make her wedding band when she married in 1923. After that, just one nugget of gold was used to make her wedding ring, the Queen's in 1947, Princess Margaret's in 1960, the Princess Royal's in 1973 and that of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1981.
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Actually, there is now only a tiny sliver - one gram (0.035oz) - of the original nugget left. But never fear, Meghan - in November 1981, the British Royal Legion presented the Queen with a 36-gram (1.3oz) piece of 21-carat Welsh gold for future royal wedding rings.
Prince William chose not to wear a wedding ring
The custom of men wearing wedding rings is said to be relatively recent and is believed to have started during the Second World War when servicemen wanted a memento to remind them of their partners back home. Its popularity increased as the decades passed and as it became more fashionable for men to wear jewellery - but most royal men have still chosen to go without.
There is a contrast to the royal rule though, as Prince Charles does wear a wedding band - under a signet ring on the little finger of his left hand - so perhaps Harry will choose to break tradition like his father. Either way, Meghan and Harry's big day fast approaches - so there's not long until we find out…
