Prince Philip designed Queen Elizabeth's engagement ring with diamonds from his mother's tiara

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Prince Philip designed Queen Elizabeth's engagement ring with diamonds from his mother's tiara
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II were married for more than 70 years.Oli Scarff/Getty Images
  • Before Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip, the late duke designed her engagement ring.
  • He used diamonds from a tiara previously owned by his mother to create the 3-carat ring.
  • Prince Philip then used the leftover stones to make her a diamond bracelet as a wedding gift.
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There are often stories behind the jewels owned by the British royal family. Take Queen Elizabeth II's engagement ring, for example.

Prince Philip - who died at the age of 99 on Friday - proposed to the Queen in 1947 with the 3-carat design. It features one circular diamond in its center and 10 smaller stones on its sides.

As Insider's Talia Lakritz previously reported, those diamonds are especially significant because they were pulled from a tiara owned by Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg.

Prince Philip designed Queen Elizabeth's engagement ring with diamonds from his mother's tiara
A view of Queen Elizabeth II's engagement ring.Antony Jones/Getty Images

According to Town & Country, the princess gave her son the tiara in 1946 knowing that he would soon propose. Prince Philip then helped to design the Queen's engagement ring alongside London jeweler Philip Antrobus Ltd., according to the publication.

Of course, the ring didn't require every diamond featured on the tiara. So with the excess, the Duke of Edinburgh then designed a one-of-a-kind bracelet for his soon-to-be-wife.

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He gave her the bracelet as a wedding gift, and she went on to wear it for numerous events and portraits.

Prince Philip designed Queen Elizabeth's engagement ring with diamonds from his mother's tiara
Queen Elizabeth II wears her engagement ring and wedding bracelet from Prince Philip.Hulton Archive/Stringer/Getty Images

The royal family reflected on the latter accessory in a tweet on Wednesday.

"HRH designed a bracelet as his wedding present to The Queen with stones from his mother's tiara and was also responsible for overseeing the construction and design of the Royal Yacht Britannia," the family wrote.

In more recent years, the accessory has seemingly been worn by Kate Middleton.

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