The Real Story Behind the Engagement RingDodi Fayed did indeed buy a diamond ring from Repossi. Reports indicate that the ring was part of the jeweller's “Dis-moi Oui” collection, a name that naturally raises questions about engagement. However, the true reasons behind the purchase are still uncertain.
It is believed he died before he could give it to the princess. It was recovered from Dodi's flat, after the couple's death, along with a receipt listing a "bague de fiançaille" (engagement ring). It was later displayed in a Harrods store.
Dodi Fayed, the son of the Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, did buy Princess Diana an £11,600 engagement ring a few hours before the couple's death in the Paris crash in 1997, though he had no chance to give it to her, the inquest jury heard yesterday.
Selected from Garrard's catalog, the 12-carat oval-cut center stone is encircled by 14 diamonds. Featuring an 18-karat white gold setting, the ring's original price was $60,000, though its value has since skyrocketed and is now worth an estimated $400,000.
Camilla HUMILIATED as William Hands Catherine Diana’s Emerald Tiara
Was Diana wearing her engagement ring when she died?
Princess Diana was wearing a ring given to her by Dodi Al Fayed when she died - but they were not going to marry, her former butler Paul Burrell discloses in a new book.
Perhaps the most famous piece of jewelry Kate inherited from Princess Diana is this sapphire engagement ring. The ring was created by British jeweler Garrard and chosen for then-Prince Charles's proposal to Diana in 1981.
But Diana wasn't the only one who died that night—her partner, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, were also killed in the crash. Only one person survived: bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
The ring is mentioned along with its value – an estimated $200,000 – and it is referred to as a potential engagement ring for Diana, purchased hours before their fatal crash. “It was a love story,” Repossi said then, “but also a tragedy.”
Royal commentator and film critic Richard Fitzwilliams says this depiction "is pretty accurate" and goes as far as saying "she was hunted" by cameras. He tells the BBC: "If you're frank about it, Diana did play with the press and [The Crown] did give some insight into that".
In Harrods, on the lower ground floor at the foot of the Egyptian escalator there is a statue and a candle-lit shrine to Dodi and Diana - their images beneath a pyramid-shaped display case containing a ring Dodi had given Diana and the wine glass she used in her last meal.
After the princess' death, most of her personal jewelry was inherited by her two sons Princes William and Harry, with pieces loaned to her during her lifetime being returned to Queen Elizabeth II, where they are most likely to have been inherited by King Charles in 2022.
Why Kate Middleton ditched her iconic engagement ring that belonged to Princess Diana. Kate Middleton made her first royal appearance of 2025 at The Royal Marsden Hospital, where she was treated for cancer last year. Fans noticed her iconic engagement ring was missing, likely due to comfort and health reasons.
Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton with his mother's iconic sapphire and diamond ring, but Meghan's engagement ring also has a special tie to Princess Diana. Harry crafted a custom design for Meghan, which featured one diamond sourced from Botswana and two smaller stones from Princess Diana's collection.
As a result, it took them some 40 minutes to make the drive, and the ambulance stopped within a few hundred yards of the hospital to treat a sharp drop in blood pressure.
Kate Middleton's sapphire engagement ring, which was once Princess Diana's, is valued at $520,000 today. While Meghan Markle has made a number of changes to her ring in recent years, the original cushion-cut piece is estimated to be worth $260,000 today.
Prince Charles and Diana wed on July 29, 1981. The pair ultimately divorced in 1996, just one year ahead of Diana's untimely death. Her sapphire ring was inherited by her youngest son, Prince Harry, who eventually offered it to his older brother, Prince William, before he proposed to Kate Middleton with it in 2010.
Trevor was the only survivor. Henri and Dodi died at the scene, while Diana was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. After life-saving efforts failed, doctors pronounced her dead at 3 a.m. The world found out three hours later.
Could Diana have been saved? Brewer believes she could have been. She was killed by a drunken driver, but an emergency medical system that was too slow did not save her. Her chances of survival were diminished by a system that took 101 minutes to get her to a hospital that was 6 kilometers away.
In 2015, firefighter Xavier Gourmelon revealed Princess Diana's last words in an interview with The Independent. Gourmelon said that Diana momentarily gained consciousness and asked, "My God, what has happened?" Gourmelon was also one of the people who revived Diana after delivering chest compressions.
The sapphire and diamond engagement ring were inspired by Queen Victoria's sapphire brooch from 1840, which she wore as her 'something blue' on her wedding day. This ring reminded Charles of his grandmother and mother, representing marriage, family, and a symbol of love.
When the Duchess of Cornwall became Queen Camilla on 9th September 2022, following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, she inherited the largest collection of jewelry in the world—often surmised to be worth in the region of $120 million (£100 million).
