William and Kate’s marriage: Why the prince never wears a wedding ring

It’s been just over 12 years since the Prince and Princess of Wales, simply Prince William and Kate Middleton back then, tied the knot.

But in all of that time, while Kate has sported Princess Diana’s famous sapphire and a custom gold wedding band to publicly signify her commitment, William has never worn a wedding ring.

As the royal couple and future King and Queen of the British Monarchy celebrated their 12 year wedding anniversary over the weekend, including posting a sweet image to Instagram, royal fans have been reminded of William’s unusual move.

As recalled by the DailyMail, scores of viewers watching the royal wedding back in 2011 were stunned to see, after William slipped a wedding ring on his bride’s finger, that the symbolic ritual wasn’t reciprocated.

The Prince’s decision not to wear a wedding ring comes down to personal preference, a royal aide has told the DailyMail.

“It was something the couple discussed but Prince William wasn’t one for jewelery – he didn’t even wear a signet ring – and decided he didn’t want to,” they said.

He’s not the first royal to opt against wedding jewelery, however.

His grandfather, Prince Philip, never wore a wedding ring despite being married to Queen Elizabeth for 73 years. And his uncle, Prince Andrew, who divorced Sarah Ferguson the Duchess of York, also never wore a wedding ring during the tenure of their marriage.

Meanwhile, William’s brother, Prince Harry, has worn a wedding ring ever since his 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.

While he slipped a wedding band made from Welsh gold gifted by the Queen onto Markle’s finger, she reciprocated the traditional move with a “Platinum Band with a textured finish. Both rings were crafted in the Cleave workshop,” according to a Palace statement and referring to Cleave and Company, the official royal jewelers who also made Markle’s engagement ring which features a diamond from Botswana flanked by two diamonds from Diana’s collection.

King Charles has also always sported a wedding band for both his marriage to Princess Diana and his second and current wife, Camilla, who will be officially crowned Queen alongside her husband at this weekend’s coronation ceremony.

According to the Daily Mail, ever since the King’s 2005 wedding to Camilla, he has worn his wedding band on his little finger and underneath the signet ring his parents gave him which features the fleur-de-lys crest of the Prince of Wales.