Prince Harry Breaks Tradition With Platinum Wedding Band

Prince Harry has opted for an unconventional wedding band, wearing a platinum band rather than a gold one to symbolize his life-long commitment to Meghan Markle.

On Saturday morning, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pledged to love each other forever in a beautiful ceremony in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Town. At the climactic moment, the ring that Markle slipped onto her groom’s finger was not made from the Royal Family’s stash of Welsh gold, as is typical in a royal wedding.

Instead, Prince Harry’s ring is made of platinum with a textured finish. The Royal Family announced this change on Saturday morning in a post on their official website.

There was no explanation for the break in tradition, though the post pointed out that Markle’s ring is still made from the usual Welsh Gold, which was given to her by Queen Elizabeth II.

“Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle have chosen Cleave and Company to make their Wedding rings,” the update read. “Ms. Markle’s ring has been fashioned from a piece of Welsh Gold, gifted by Her Majesty The Queen. Prince Harry’s ring will be a Platinum Band with a textured finish. Both rings were crafted in the Cleave workshop. The rings will be carried to St George’s Chapel on the day of the Wedding by The Duke of Cambridge, in his capacity as Best Man.”

As expected, the wedding bands were carried by Prince William as part of his duties as the groom’s best man. Back in 2011, Prince William also took an unconventional approach to his wedding ring.

While Kate Middleton wears a Welsh Gold ring, Prince William still does not wear one to this day. The couple decided that one piece of jewelry was enough to mark their commitment, leaving Prince William’s left ring finger bare.

Markle’s new wedding ring fits snugly beside her engagement ring, which Prince Harry reportedly designed himself. According to a report by PEOPLE, the prince picked out three diamonds to adorn his bride’s finger back in November. One of the stones is from Botswana, a country that is important to the world travelling prince. The other two came from the personal collection of his mother, Princess Diana.

Markle also followed in Princess Diana’s footsteps by modernizing her wedding vows. She omited the word “obey” from the centuries-old vow, just as Princess Diana first did in 1981.

The vows used in deeply traditional weddings come from the church’s Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which dates back to 1662. In them, the groom promises “to love and cherish till death do us part,” while the bride vows to “love, cherish and obey” her husband.

These days, most weddings use those set down in the Common Worship book, which was introduced in 2000. They no longer include the word “obey.”

“I, (bride/groom name), take you, (groom/bride name) to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part,” they read.