Kensington Palace’s 2-Word Explanation for Why Kate Middleton Wasn’t Wearing Her Wedding Ring in That Mother’s Day Photo
Where is Kate Middleton’s engagement ring? Or how about her wedding band? That’s just one of the many questions to come out of the Princess of Wales’ edited Mother’s Day photo controversy. Kensington Palace has since offered up an explanation, albeit a very short one. Ahead, what they had to say about Kate’s missing ring in the picture.
Kate’s seen without her wedding ring in the 2024 Mother’s Day photo
On March 10, 2024, Kensington Palace released an image of Kate and her three children to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K. The snap, taken by Prince William, showed Kate smiling alongside the couple’s children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
The royal mother of three wore jeans, lace-up boots, and a vest for her first official photo since undergoing abdominal surgery in January. Missing, however, was a very recognizable accessory. A ring on that finger.
So, in addition to speculation the image had been edited—which Kate later admitted to—the diamond and sapphire sparkler once belonging to Princess Diana, and a Welsh gold band, were nowhere to be seen.
The palace’s explanation for Kate’s missing ring is she’s ‘at home’
Now for Kensington Palace’s explanation for Kate’s naked ring finger in the photo. They offered up two words for the missing jewelry. The explanation centered around where the British royal was at the time the photo was taken.
“Kate’s office simply responded to questions about her ring by stating the royal was ‘at home’ when the photo was taken,” ITV News reported (via The Mirror).
Kate’s been recuperating at Adelaide Cottage, her and William’s family home near Windsor Castle. She returned home on Jan. 29. 2024, after being discharged from the hospital.
Kate, The Mirror added, “may have had to remove her wedding band ahead of the procedure, and simply hasn’t put it back on yet.”
The questions about Kate’s ring come on the heels of a Meghan Markle ring mystery
Before royal watchers wondered about Kate’s ring (it was perceived to be an editing error), something similar happened to her sister-in-law, Meghan Markle.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, stepped out without her engagement ring multiple times in late 2023 and early 2024. Not until traveling to Canada to mark one year to the 2025 Invictus Games did Meghan step out wearing her ring.
A previous report put Meghan’s missing ring down to a maintenance issue. A September 2023People report in cited repairs for a loose setting.
The sparkler features a center stone from Botswana. The country holds a special place in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s relationship timeline. It’s where they spent five days getting to know each other in 2016. Meghan’s ring also includes two smaller stones from Diana’s personal collection.
Prince Harry designed the ring, which royal jeweler Cleave and Company created. He proposed to Meghan at Nottingham Cottage in November 2017. Meghan’s ring is now among the most “iconic” royal engagement rings.
