Kate Middleton was without an accessory staple for her emotional visit this week to the London Royal Marsden Hospital where she received cancer treatment, likely in light of the nature of the engagement.
On Jan. 14, the Princess of Wales, 43, made an unannounced appearance at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London, returning to the medical center where she privately underwent treatment in 2024, a detail announced that day. A Kensington Palace spokesman said of the outing, “The princess wanted to make the journey to both show her gratitude to the incredible team, but also highlight the world leading care and treatment the Marsden provides.”
For her appearance, Kate noticeably didn’t wear her engagement ring.
One of Princess Kate’s style signatures is the sapphire and diamond engagement ring from Prince William, which previously belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana. The 18-carat ring is a true statement piece, and one Kate has been known to remove during hospital visits. Some medical centers have policies on minimal jewelry, with a hand-washing requisite before visiting wards. Princess Kate has taken off her heirloom engagement ring for hospital tours before, making her Royal Marsden trip no different.
The Princess of Wales did, however, skip her engagement ring, seemingly as a fashion statement, a few times in 2024, including in last year’s Mother’s Day picture with her kids, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. It was also off in an August video in which she and Prince William congratulated Great Britain on their success at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
As seen in that clip and the subsequent September video in which she announced that she’d completed chemotherapy, Kate instead wore a stack of rings with what appears to be a new eternity band. In those instances, the princess appeared to wear her Welsh gold wedding ring, a white gold and diamond Annoushka eternity band that William gave her after George was born in 2013, a mystery third ring and what looks to be another eternity band of dark gems and diamonds.
“The ring that Kate wore is definitely a newer addition to her jewelry box. It’s a slim, sparkling eternity-style band with alternating light and dark gemstones,” Lauren Kiehna, founder of The Court Jeweller blog, told PEOPLE at the time.
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“Many of these eternity bands reflect family relationships. Given that her children’s birthstones are rubies, emeralds and diamonds, it wouldn’t surprise me if the gems set in the new ring are linked to George, Charlotte and Louis,” Kiehna added about what the accessory’s deeper meaning may be.
The Princess of Wales did wear her dazzling engagement ring for most of her few formal outings in 2024, from Trooping the Colour in June (her first public event after announcing that March that she was undergoing treatment for cancer) to Wimbledon in July. It was also on for the Festival of Remembrance in November and her Together at Christmas carol service in December.
Princess Kate’s latest appearance without her engagement ring may also hint at a new proclivity of only wearing it for her most formal royal events, as she didn’t put it on for a surprise visit to Southport with Prince William in October 2024. There, they showed support for the community grieving in the wake of a mass stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class that July, with Kate opting instead for her ring stack.
Also announced on the day of Princess Kate’s visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital this week was her and Prince William’s decision to become Joint Patrons of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The Royal Marsden opened in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and education, and the hub is world-renowned for its care.
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