Meghan Markle Ditches Massive $350K Engagement Ring Again as 'Diva Duchess' Sparks Rumors She's 'Having It Altered for a Fifth Time' Despite 'Money Issues'
Meghan Markle's heavily altered engagement ring was missing at an awards dinner.
March 23 2026, Published 4:20 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle has sparked speculation she's having her engagement ring from Prince Harry redesigned for a whopping fifth time, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The "Diva Duchess," 44, noticeably ditched the $350K diamond ring Harry, 41, gave her in 2017, while attending the Alliance for Children's Rights 34th Annual Champions for Children dinner on March 19, where she presented pal Kelly McKee-Zajfen with an award.
Meghan Markle's Engagement Ring Was Missing at Awards Dinner
Markle kept holding her friend's baby bump while showing how her engagement ring was missing.
Markle wore just her simple gold wedding band to the event, but stayed blinged up, wearing her gold Cartier Love bracelet given to her by her first husband, Trevor Engelson, along with the late Princess Diana's gold Cartier Tank watch, both on her left wrist
The former TV actress' hand was hard to miss, as she kept placing it on Zajfen's heavily pregnant baby bump while posing on the red carpet, in an overly personal move that some critics called "creepy."
Markle also hung on her pal's shoulder and leaned her head into the philanthropist while her left hand got plenty of attention.
Meghan Markle Began Altering Her Engagement Ring Starting in 2019
Markle's original engagement ring featured a yellow gold band.
Markle was still wearing the engagement ring, along with another massive pear-shaped diamond on her right hand, when she and Harry sat courtside at the NBA All-Star Game in February.
With it off her hand again, royal watchers speculated the California native is making more adjustments to the already heavily altered bauble.
When Harry first gave it to Markle, the ring featured an approximately 3-carat main cushion-cut stone from Botswana, with two smaller diamonds from Diana's private jewelry collection set on either side.
In the couple's November 2017 televised engagement interview, Harry said of the band, "The ring is obviously yellow gold because that’s her favorite."
Just one year into their marriage, Markle had the gold band replaced with a noticeably slimmer one set with micro-pavé diamonds.
Markle seemingly upgraded her original center stone to an emerald cut diamond.
It wasn't just the band that Markle was apparently dissatisfied with, as when she turned up to the 2022 Invictus Games in The Hague, fans noticed she'd added more diamonds around the center stone.
By the time the former Netflix star's failed lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, premiered in March 2025, the trailer revealed that the center diamond was now a more expensive, rarer emerald cut, rather than the previous cushion cut that Harry had given her.
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The 44-year-old started sporting a 7-carat pear-shaped diamond on her right hand in January.
When Markle started wearing the 7-carat pear-cut diamond on her right hand, several royal watchers suggested it was the type of ring she originally hoped to get as a royal bride. Especially since Harry's brother, Prince William, gave Kate Middleton Diana's 12-carat oval Ceylon sapphire engagement ring, set with 14 diamonds, when they became betrothed in 2010.
"Looks like the Founder is giving herself the diamond ring she wished Harry gave her. She's been sporting this pear-shaped monstrosity for a minute," one person sniffed on X after the huge bauble's All-Star Game appearance.
A second commented, "Harry didn't give her the ring she felt she deserved," while a third sniped: "Meghan, I don't believe she liked the ring Harry gave her in the first place; it wasn't grand enough. She is pathetic. This ring looks ostentatious, too big."
