How Prince Philip Gave Queen Elizabeth An Engagement Ring Fit For A Princess

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s love story will never cease to amaze any romantic. Just like any other couple, the two love-struck royals had to face a few obstacles along the way, one of which was Philip’s lack of financial resources.

Though a member of royalty, Prince Philip was not exactly living the luxurious lifestyle of his wealthier relatives as he was basically penniless at that time. Thus, one of the questions that baffled royal family fans is how the young royal might have been able to gift Elizabeth an engagement ring fit for a princess.

His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born at Windsor Castle at the presence of Queen Victoria, her great-grandmother. She was later married to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, which means that Philip was a Prince of Greece and Denmark as well, titles that he relinquished when he married Queen Elizabeth II.

While Princess Alice’s marriage didn’t last long as Philip’s father left them for a mistress, she did receive a tiara as a wedding gift from her Russian royal relatives. “The tiara was part of a matching suite (parure) that had been a wedding present to Princess Alice from her maternal uncle and aunt, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, when she married Prince Andrew of Greece in 1903,” Charlene Dargay wrote on Quora.

Princess Andrew, as Philip’s mother later became known when she married into Greek royalty, then gave the tiara to her son with the intention of having it broken down to create an engagement ring for then Princess Elizabeth.

It was said that Philip was even involved in designing the ring. “The ring has a 3-carat diamond solitaire flanked on each side by 5 smaller diamonds, all set in platinum,” Dargay detailed. “The ring was created by jeweller Philip Antrobus, with Phillip heavily involved with the design.”

Of course not every piece of diamond from the tiara was used in making the ring. The rest was made into a wide bracelet, which became Philip’s wedding gift to Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, Princess Andrew also gave her daughter-in-law another tiara as a wedding gift. It is known as the Meander Tiara, which was later given to Princess Anne. The tiara was also worn by Zara Phillips on her wedding.