The Princess of Wales has debuted a new ‘eternity’ ring stack – including gifts from her husband Prince William.
Kate, 43, joined former England manager Gareth Southgate for an event hosted by The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood – a cause dear to her heart – held at the Salesforce Tower in London today.
Her Royal Highness made her first public speech since being diagnosed with cancer last year, telling the audience about the importance of children growing up in loving and supportive homes.
In her speech she spoke of the work of The Centre for Early Childhood, adding that creating ‘the conditions for love to flourish’ in childhood is ‘how we invest in our future’.
At the event the royal sported a Cascade white ruffled blouse and showed off some subtle but meaningful additions to her jewellery – opting for a stack of four rings on her left hand.
Once upon a time, the Princess would usually wear her engagement ring, which belonged to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana, on its own, but these days appears to prefer the trendy ‘stacking’ effect.
As first displayed during the Remembrance service at the Cenotaph last weekend, Kate combined her beloved sapphire with two eternity rings and her gold wedding band.
Kate’s most recent eternity ring is believed to have been a present from her husband Prince William last year to celebrate 13 years of marriage and as a sign of a ‘fresh start’ after completing chemotherapy for cancer.
Kate made some subtle but meaningful additions to her jewellery – opting for a stack of four rings on one finger
The gold ring, thought to be the Étincelle de Cartier wedding band, is set with 19 diamonds and 19 matching sapphires, totalling 0.34 carats.
Next, she added Princess Diana’s engagement ring, featuring a 12-carat Ceylon sapphire surrounded by a cluster of 14 solitaire diamonds set in white gold, and thought to be worth £75,000.
Her third ring was also a present from the Prince of Wales, believed to have been gifted following the birth of their son Prince George in 2012. The pave-set ring from Annoushka’s Eclipse collection is crafted from 18-carat white gold and hand-set with 0.23 carats of diamonds.
Finally, Kate added her wedding band, which was crafted from a piece of Welsh yellow gold.
Last year, as she returned to public-facing duties following her cancer treatment, Kate was seen swapping out her engagement ring for her new ‘eternity band’, for example when she visited Southport in October 2024.
However, she brought the engagement ring back for last year’s Remembrance Events – wearing the ring solo on her finger. Now, she appears to be wearing all her staple ring pieces together.
Completing her look today, she was as elegant as ever in a chic grey suit from Roland Mouret and added £3,750 earrings from Mappin & Webb’s Empress collection alongside a black leather Smythson East West Tote.
The Princess of Wales was confident as she made her first public speech since being diagnosed with cancer last year.
Kate was the image of elegance as she arrived at the Salesforce Tower for the event this afternoon
She gave assured opening remarks – and a made a point of thanking her team for their support during a difficult period which has seen her health impacted.
‘Good morning everyone. Thank you for being here today, I do hope you will find it interesting and insightful,’ she began.
‘We have got some fantastic speakers, thank you, to all of you for your time, support and commitment.
‘I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Christian, who has led The Centre and built many of the relationships here today. Thank you Christian for holding the fort, particularly over the last couple of years.’
The princess continued: ‘My passion and the work of The Centre for Early Childhood, stems from one essential truth; that the love we feel in our earliest years fundamentally shapes who we become and how we thrive as adults.
‘Love is the first and most essential bond. But it is also the invisible thread, woven with time, attention and tenderness, through consistent, nurturing relationships, which creates the grounded and meaningful environments around a child.
‘It is this texture, the weave of love, which forms a child’s emotional world and becomes the foundation, the very fabric of resilience and belonging.
‘The home should be the space where love, safety and rhythm enable a child to thrive.
‘A loving home ultimately teaches us how to love and how to care, but every environment has the potential to shape our hearts.
‘Every one of you interacts with your own environment; a home, a family, a business, a workforce, a community. These are the ecosystems that you yourselves help to weave. Imagine a world where each of these environments were built on valuing time and tenderness just as much as productivity and success.
‘As business leaders you will face the daily challenge of finding the balance between profitability and having a positive impact. But the two are not, and should not, be incompatible.’
She concluded: ‘At The Centre for Early Childhood, we believe that we must do all we can, to create the conditions for love to flourish. That is how we invest in our future.
Kate also appeared to be wearing the ring stack as she attended Remembrance events last weekend
‘Every child deserves respect and safety, and everyone who cares deserve recognition and appreciation.
‘Every act of care creates community because we are all essentially weavers of the same fabric.
‘I believe in restoring the dignity to the quiet, often invisible work of caring, of loving well, as we look to build a happier, healthier society.
‘You are here because you care, so thank you.’
The ‘Future Workforce Summit’ will see the launch of five new initiatives from major UK firms to help families with babies and young children, with the aim of reaching one million children in 2026.
Kensington Palace said it was an important milestone for the Princess’s work to ‘inspire societal wide action to create a healthier, happier society transformed by our approach to early childhood’.
Hosted by journalist Mishal Husain, other respected attendees included research psychologist Professor Marc Brackett, Harvard’s Professor Robert Waldinger and psychotherapist and author Philippa Perry.
Catherine set up her Business Taskforce in March 2023 to galvanise business action on the issue.
Since then, Taskforce members Aviva, The Co-operative Group, Deloitte, Iceland Foods, IKEA UK and Ireland, The LEGO Group, NatWest Group and Unilever UK, have worked together to identify the scale of the opportunity and the role that business can play.
To date, work their organisations have delivered as part of the programme have reached more than half a million babies and young children.
Her rallying call to business leaders saw the princess urge business leaders to prioritise ‘time and tenderness’ alongside profit and success.
It was her first major speech for two years but Catherine seemed even more confident in her delivery.
A source said: ‘This is a real insight into how the Princess thinks about early childhood, and her framing of love and connection.’
Catherine stepped back from public duties for several months as she underwent a course of gruelling chemotherapy treatment. In January, she revealed she was in remission as she made a gradual return to public duties.
Her decision to address the large gathering of around 80 of the UK’s most influential business leaders summit on Tuesday was said to underline the importance she places on her work on early childhood.
