Does Prince William Usually Wear A Wedding Ring?
Getting a chance to wear incredibly impressive and historic jewelry is just one of the ways that the royal family is different from the rest of us. But one royal who's pretty much guaranteed to not be mentioned on any "who wore it best" jewelry lists is William, Prince of Wales. Admittedly, the traditional options for jewels for men in the royal family are more limited than the those for women, but Prince William even skips wearing his wedding ring.
Some might take the fact that the prince was seen without his wedding ring as a sign that William and Kate's marriage is on the rocks, but it turns out that jewelry just isn't William's thing. He didn't even wear a ring on his wedding day. In what seems like clear anticipation of people noticing and wondering why William wasn't given a ring during the ceremony, the palace released a statement in advance of the wedding noting that Kate's would be the only ring involved during the big event. "He's not one for jewelry," a source close to the prince told The Mirror before William and Kate got married. "He's never worn any. He decided he didn't want to wear one now. It's all down to personal preference."
William might have skipped the wedding ring but Kate often wears hers
While William, Prince of Wales skipped the wedding ring, his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales still wears hers often. It's made of Welsh gold, a royal tradition that started with Queen Elizabeth's mother in 1923. William and Kate were gifted the gold from Queen Elizabeth to make her wedding band, and they both offered input on its design. The mining of Welsh gold has a deep history, but it's no longer mined now, which makes the royal wedding rings all the more rare and precious.
Kate is frequently seen wearing her wedding ring paired with one of the world's most famous engagement rings — the sapphire and diamond ring that once belonged to Princess Diana, though Kate does sometime skip wearing her engagement ring. You might remember Kate's ring as one of William and Kate's wedding mishaps. William had to work to put the ring on Kate's finger; she'd had it sized down and he noticeably struggled to get it on, but that didn't stop their royal wedding from becoming a favorite for fans.
King Charles wears a wedding ring with his Prince of Wales signet ring
William, Prince of Wales is hardly the first royal husband to skip wearing his wedding ring. His grandfather Prince Philip didn't wear one. Neither does Princess Eugenie's husband, nor did Prince Andrew when he was married to Sarah Ferguson. In a break from that tradition, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex wears the platinum ring he received on his wedding day, and King Charles III wears his Welsh gold ring. However, the king wears it on his pinky instead of his ring finger, and he did so with the wedding band he had when he was married to Princess Diana and with the one he got when he married Queen Camilla.
The king pairs his wedding band with his signet ring, which is engraved with the feathers of the Prince of Wales crest. It was a gift to King Charles from his uncle, the previous Prince of Wales. William may now be the Prince of Wales, but his father still wears the ring. Given that William doesn't wear a wedding ring, he seems unlikely to switch course and start wearing a signet ring, so it makes sense for the king to hold onto it, particularly since it's become a part of his signature look — he's worn it since the 1970s.