Why Prince Harry re-designed Meghan Markle's engagement ring

When Meghan Markle stepped out with her re-designed engagement ring after Archie's birth, we didn't know why changes had been made.

But according to book Finding Freedom, we now know this was all Prince Harry's doing.

It's claimed that the Duke of Sussex had the plain gold band changed to the pave diamond style we see today at the same time he created a bespoke eternity ring for his wife to mark their first wedding anniversary.

"On May 19, 2019, Harry also surprised his wife of one year with the gift of a ring that he had created with jeweller-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz, a favourite of Meghan's," the authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote.

RELATED: Meghan isn't the first royal wife to change her engagement ring

"The conflict-free diamond eternity band paid homage to the family of three with Meghan's, Archie's and Harry's birthstones (peridot, emerald, and sapphire, respectively) on the underside of the ring."

The jeweller told the authors the "romantic" and "thoughtful" prince "wanted to make it special".

At the same time as he had the band made, Harry got Schwartz to re-size and reset her engagement ring.

While the reason behind this change isn't explicitly revealed, it's implied in the book that it was done so the the two rings would match, as they sat either side of Meghan's welsh gold wedding band.

The first engagement ring of the former American actress featured a plain gold band with three large diamonds — the largest of the trio is the centre stone, sourced from Botswana, where the couple shared their first holiday together.

The two smaller stones either side are from Princess Diana's personal collection.

During their engagement interview with the BBC, Prince Harry gave more details behind the ring.

"The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's [Meghan's] favourite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana, and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewellery collection, to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together."