Birthstones Of The Royal Family
Birthstones are gemstones that are connected to certain months of the year. The custom of linking birth months to gemstones goes way back to the breastplates worn by high priests in the Old Testament. In 1912, the American National Association of Jewellers got together to come up with an official standardized list of birthstones. That way everyone could be on the same page about which stones belong to which months.
Keep reading to find out how the Royal Family has incorporated birthstones into their jewelry and family heirlooms.
Kate Middleton — Garnet
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, was born on January 9th, which means that her birthstone is garnet. Garnet is a deep reddish-orange colored stone. Some people believe that garnet is linked to faith, love, and courage.
Kate Middleton has been photographed wearing a garnet and pearl yellow gold ring that seems to have been in her possession since 2005. Kate's unique engagement ring doesn’t have a garnet stone in it, though. Keep reading to find out why.
Meghan Markle — Peridot
Meghan Markle, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, was born on August 4th, which means that her birthstone is peridot. Peridot is a greenish-yellowish stone that's associated with serenity. Harry recently gifted Meghan an eternity ring that includes peridot stones, and their son Archie's birthstone. Keep reading to find out what Archie’s birthstone is.
The diamond ring with gem side stones was a gift for the couple's first wedding anniversary. It was also given in celebration of Archie's birth.
Prince Harry — Sapphire
Prince Harry was born on September 15th, which means that his birthstone is a sapphire. A blue sapphire is associated with purity, wisdom, faith, loyalty, and serenity. No wonder he and Meghan are a good match— both of their birthstones summon serenity. They must have a very calm relationship.
Kate Middleton's engagement ring has a sapphire in it, even though she wasn’t born in September. We think that blue sapphires really bring out Harry's eyes.
Prince William— Pearl
Prince William was born on June 21st, which means that his birthstone is pearl or moonstone. Apparently, these iridescent white stones help calm nervous or anxious thoughts.
Kate's eternity ring has garnets and pearls in it— garnet is her birthstone and pearl is William’s birthstone. Pearl and garnet go pretty well together, don’t you think? Pearl is calming and garnet is passionate, so those two stones really balance each other out. If the stones have anything to say about it, this couple is built to last.
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor — Emerald
Archie, Meghan and Harry's son, was born on May 6th. His birthstone is an emerald, just like his older cousin Charlotte. The eternity ring that Harry gave to Meghan includes emeralds in celebration of Archie's birth. While most standard emeralds are green, these gems can be more yellow or more blue depending on their chemical compositions.
Right now, Columbia is the largest producer of emeralds. They control 50-90% of the world's supply of the gem.
Camilla, Duchess Of Cornwall — Ruby
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is Prince Charles's second wife. She was born on July 17th, 1947. Camilla is also on her second marriage. She was previously married to Andrew Parker Bowles with whom she had two children.
Camilla's birthstone is a ruby, like Diana's. Camilla has a large, ornate ruby necklace (pictured here) that she has been photographed wearing a few times. Perhaps she owns a ruby necklace because ruby is her birthstone, or maybe she just likes rubies.
Prince George — Ruby
Prince George, Kate and William's first-born son, was born on July 22nd, so his birthstone is ruby. Like garnet, George’s mother’s birthstone, rubies are red stones that represent courage and strength.
This stone is also known to attract good luck and good friends. We think it’s the perfect birthstone for the future King of England. George’s birthstone is kind of a blend of his parent’s birthstones, which may be a coincidence, but it could also be fate.
Princess Charlotte — Emerald
Princess Charlotte, William and Kate's only daughter, was born on May 2nd, so her birthstone is emerald. Emeralds are green in color, and they’re associated with health, faithfulness, fertility, and wealth.
Well, we already know that Charlotte has wealth in her future. She is a member of the royal family, after all. Charlotte hasn’t worn much jewelry yet because she’s only four years old, but maybe as she gets older we’ll see her in some emeralds.
Prince Louis — Diamond
Prince Louis, William and Kate's second son and youngest child was born on April 23rd, so his birthstone is diamond. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but they’re also especially precious to people born in April.
Diamonds are connected to eternal love because of their hardness. Diamonds are the hardest stones in the world. They’re also associated with romance and courage, and they've been known to ward off insanity. Hopefully, Louis’ birthstone will serve him well as he gets older.
Prince Charles — Topaz
Prince Charles was born on November 14th, so his birthstone is topaz. Topaz is a yellow stone that's associated with intellect and positivity. Prince Charles' wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, has been photographed wearing topaz earrings and a topaz brooch in the past, possibly in honor of her husband.
Camilla also has a pink topaz choker that was gifted to her by her husband. Do you think Charles gave her his own birthstone as a gift on purpose or was it just a happy coincidence?
Queen Elizabeth II — Diamond
Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21st, 1926. Her birthstone was a diamond, just like her great-grandson Louis. Louis was born just two days after the Queen's birthday, and that must have been a better birthday gift than any shiny diamond.
Diamonds are one of the most coveted gems in the world. They're definitely stones worthy of a queen. Queen Elizabeth II seemed to be more fond of pearls, though. Maybe the pearls are in honor of her son, William.
Prince Philip — Pearl
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born on June 10th, which means that his birthstone is a pearl just like Prince Williams. Maybe that's why Queen Elizabeth II wears so much pearl jewelry all the time. Could all of those pearls be a tribute to Prince Philip?
Prince Philip was actually born in Greece, but his family was kicked out of the country when he was a baby. Phillip and Elizabeth have four children together.
Princess Eugenie — Aquamarine
Princess Eugenie of York is the daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, which makes her the queen's granddaughter. Eugenie was born on March 23rd, which means her birthstone is aquamarine.
Eugenie hasn't been photographed wearing many aquamarine jewels, but on Harry and Meghan's wedding day, Meghan wore an aquamarine ring that used to belong to Princess Diana. The ring was a gift from her new husband. She wore shoes with blue soles to match the ring.
Princess Beatrice — Peridot
Princess Beatrice of York is Eugenie's older sister. She was born on August 8th, which means that her birthstone is peridot just like Meghan Markle's. Beatrice's birthday is just four days after Meghan's birthday. Beatrice is currently dating Count Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who is the son of a British Olympian.
Beatrice was actually a royal before Meghan was a royal, so really, we should consider her the OG August royal. She's ninth in line for the British throne. A lot of these royals were born in the spring and summer.
Zara Tindall — Emerald
Zara Tindall is the daughter of Mark Phillips and the queen's daughter, Princess Anne. She is Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter. Here she is pictured with her own daughter, Mia Tindall.
Zara was born on May 15th, 1981, which makes her birthstone an emerald. Zara is the third royal on this list to have been born in May. Princess Eugenie wore an emerald tiara to her own wedding. The tiara Zara wore when she was a bride was encrusted in diamonds.
Princess Anne — Peridot
Princess Anne, the queen's second child and only daughter, was born on August 15th, 1950. That means that her birthstone is peridot, just like Meghan and Beatrice. Princess Anne's engagement ring is actually not a peridot, it's a sapphire set between two diamonds.
Princess Anne was actually second in line for the British throne when her mother took the throne, behind only her elder brother Charles, but is currently 14th in line.
Prince Andrew — Amethyst
Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II's third child and second eldest son, was born on February 19th, 1960. That means that his birthstone is amethyst. Amethyst is a stone that's purple in color. It's associated with protection, which is why it's so fitting that Prince Andrew is in an army uniform in this photo.
Prince Andrew is Beatrice and Eugenie's father. When he was born, he was second in line for the British throne, but now that William and Harry have had children, he is eighth in line.
Prince Edward — Aquamarine
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, is Queen Elizabeth II's youngest child. He was born on March 10th, 1964. At one time, he was third in line for the British throne, but the rules have changed since then. His sister, Anne, now has a higher claim to the throne, plus Harry and William have had children. Now he is 11th in line.
Edward's birthstone is aquamarine. Edward's wife, Sophie, actually has an aquamarine tiara that she wore quite often, but on her wedding day, she decided to wear a diamond tiara.
Sarah Ferguson — Opal
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is Prince Andrew's ex-wife. She's the mother of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Sarah was born on October 15th, 1959. That means her birthstone is opal.
Opals are associated with hope, innocence, and creativity. At Sarah's royal wedding, she wore a tiara that was gifted to her by the queen, but that tiara didn't have any opals on it. It was covered in diamonds instead. Diamonds are a bit more fitting for a royal wedding, don't you think?
Princess Diana — Ruby
Diana, Princess of Wales, was born on July 1st, 1961. That means her birthstone is a ruby. Diana isn't wearing any rubies in this photo, but she is wearing a lot of red. That's because this is a photo from when she visited Canada, so she wore the colors of the Canadian flag.
Coincidentally, Princess Diana was also born on Canada Day. I guess that makes it particularly fitting that her birthstone is a ruby— a red stone.
