Advertisement

Opinion: Royal wedding: Prince William should put a ring on it

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton have been full of ring surprises. First, William made the stunning gesture of giving his fiancée the famous sapphire engagement ring that belonged to his late mother, Diana, the Princess of Wales. Now, we learn that William himself will wear no wedding band.

Kate, however, in keeping with storied royal tradition, will wear a wedding band fashioned out of some rare Welsh gold from a closed mine that Queen Elizabeth II still has a chunk of.

William is not following any particular tradition. Royal men, it turns out, are all over the place on this issue. The Duke of Edinburgh (Queen Elizabeth’s husband -- the one who was played by James Cromwell in “The Queen”) wears no wedding ring. Prince Edward, the queen’s youngest son, does wear a wedding ring. And Prince Charles, William’s father, did not take a ring at his wedding to Diana. But now that he’s married to Camilla, he wears a slender wedding band under the big signet ring on his left pinky. It’s a look.

Advertisement

Apparently this was simply William’s choice. The couple talked about it and agreed -- according to unnamed palace sources in a British paper -- that William could go without. William doesn’t wear any rings — even a signet ring — and he doesn’t want to start now, sources said.

Actually, a wedding is when most men start wearing a ring.

It’s nice that Kate and William are such a postmodern couple. They both got university degrees -- they met at school -- they lived together, they waited until they were both 29 to get engaged. It’s even sophisticated that they, reportedly, decided together that it was OK if he didn’t wear a ring.

But how lame of him! We get it that wearing a ring is not going to stop a man from cheating, any more than not wearing a ring is going to encourage him to cheat. And it’s not like women are going to scope out his ring finger, assume he’s not married, and start flirting with him at, say, a polo match or a bar. The whole world is going to watch his wedding.

But since the two of them are about to become one of the most famous married couples on Earth, it would be nice to see that, while she’s giddily flashing enough bling on her finger to make her hand fall off, he’s sporting at least a simple band that telegraphs to the world his love for her and his pride in that love.

We’re not suggesting this is a deal breaker for Kate. We’re just saying -- if you like her, then you shoulda put a ring on your own finger.

RELATED:

Advertisement

A century of royal weddings

Interactive: Your guide to the royal wedding

Not-quite-so-royal wedding, circa 1937 -- thank you, Wallis Windsor!

Full coverage: The royal wedding

--Carla Hall

Advertisement