Royal fans are in uproar after the Princess of Wales publicly apologised for "doctoring" her Mother's Day photo with her three children, but she has joined a handful of other royals who have similarly dabbled in picture editing.
One you may not have spotted is Princess Charlene of Monaco's engagement photoshoot with Prince Albert back in 2010. Eagle-eyes fans from The Royal Couturier have cast their eyes back to the pictures, taken in the Palace of Monaco's gardens.
© Pool InteragencesFormer Olympic swimmer Charlene looked radiant in a halterneck dress made from a beautiful turquoise satin that tied in the lush greenery in the background. But attention was diverted away from her slinky dress and her flawlessly styled blonde pixie cut, and towards the mammoth diamond ring on her left hand, which was her only chosen accessory for the occasion.
Now, it has been highlighted that there's a reason the royal's engagement ring looked so huge as she rested her hand on her new fiancé Albert's arm, compared to sightings since then – it is thought to have been digitally enhanced back in 2010.
© Pool Interagences"The ring was actually not yet ready at the time the photo was captured. So someone got creative and edited it into the photo," the fashion Instagram account pointed out. "The actual ring, which Princess Charlene wears sporadically, is much more delicate and refined, weighing three carats and surrounded by smaller stones."
Designed by Parisian jeweller Repossi, the real ring has been seen infrequently since their royal wedding in 2011. It has been stacked next to Charlene's Cartier wedding band and Cartier Trinity ring, which Albert gifted his wife on their anniversary in 2015, and it has been notably absent on several occasions.
It is not unusual for Charlene to remove the accessory for royal appearances. While she sported the sparkling rock for the Red Cross Christmas Gifts Distribution and the Sainte Devote Rugby Tournament in 2023, she chose to go bare-fingered at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2019 and the memorial service of King Goodwill Zwelithini in 2021.
© GettyMeanwhile, The Royal Couturier suggested she has a number of "decoy engagement rings" with similar pear-shaped stones.
Albert and Charlene's love story began following a meeting at Monaco's Mare Nostrum International Swimming Meet in 2000. Ten years later, Grace Kelly's son proposed, but they kept their engagement a secret as they attended Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden's pre-wedding dinner on 18 June 2010.
Wearing a stunning grey satin strapless wedding guest gown, Charlene sported a shy smile – which concealed her happy engagement secret to prevent upstaging the bride.
© GettyThe Monegasque royals got married in July 2011 in an emotional three-day wedding celebration that kicked off with a concert by the Eagles, followed by a civil ceremony and a Roman-Catholic ceremony – where Charlene was pictured dabbing tears from her eyes.
The bride teamed her pear-shaped engagement ring with an off-the-shoulder Armani Privé silk gown, which took three seamstresses 2,500 hours to make.
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