Sometimes a couple meets and gets married when they’re both young, under-employed, and broke.
Later in life, once they’ve accumulated a little disposable wealth, they may decide that the rinky-dink vending machine ring the guy proposed with could stand to be classed up a bit.
The tradition has died out a bit among younger couples, partially because it’s considered gauche, and partially due to the fact that for every generation after the boomers, accumulating disposable income is about as realistic as starting a unicorn ranch.
Of course, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t affected by any of this.
For one thing, when they met, Harry was about as rich as he’s ever gonna be — which is very, very rich.
On top of that, they just tied the knot in May of 2018, so Meg’s commitment bling should be pretty well up-to-date in terms of the latest styles.
Despite all of that, royal watchers are now accusing Meg of having her ring upgraded by a top-tier jeweler.
The makeover was first spotted at the annual Trooping the Colour event earlier this month.
According to people who spend a lot of time thinking about this sort of thing, the ring — which once had three diamonds, two of which belonged to Princess Diana — now features a diamond-studded band.
Majesty Magazine editor Ingrid Seward called Meg out for the alleged alteration, claiming it’s a slap in the face to Harry, who designed her ring himself just two years ago:
“I find it a bit odd Meghan would want to alter a ring that her husband had specially designed for her,” Seward said in a recent interview.
“A royal engagement ring is a piece of history not a bit of jewelry to be updated when it looks old fashioned.”
Adding to the controversy is the fact that Harry seemed quite proud to have taken part in designing the ring.
“The ring is obviously yellow gold because that’s her favorite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother’s jewelry collection, to make sure she’s with us on this crazy journey together,” he said at the time.
Hey, if it’s any consolation, Lady Di is still on the journey with you — she’s just been upgraded from coach to first class!
But in all seriousness, like most criticisms of Meghan, this is much ado about nothing.
It’s based on a whole lot of speculation, including assumptions that it was Meghan’s decision to upgrade the ring, and that Harry had no say in the matter.
Perhaps the new stones were added in celebration of Meg and Harry’s first anniversary or as a "push present" following the birth of baby Archie.
Whatever the case, we’re guessing Harry’s cool with it — or at the very least, he’s less upset about than the folks at Majesty Magazine!