Meghan Markle’s Welsh Gold Engagement Ring Sold at Auction for £44,000

The Welsh gold used in Meghan Markle's engagement ring has been sold at auction for a whopping £44,000.

The precious metal is used in every royal wedding band since 1923, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were expected to follow the tradition.

The Welsh gold is rare and normally five times more valuable than imported gold.

The auction saw 10 lots of gold nuggets and flakes sold for record prices, up to 20 times the price of normal gold.

The Queen, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Princess Diana, and the Duchess of Cambridge have all kept up the tradition of using Welsh gold on their wedding rings.

The gold sold at auction in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, went for more than 20 times the rate standard gold was being sold for on international markets yesterday.

The smallest nugget available weighs just 0.1 ounces and has a guide price of £600 – £700 but went for £2,100.

The largest lot up for auction is half an ounce of gold flakes and dust, which is expected to fetch between £1,600 and £2,000, but sold for £10,000.

Mr Rogers-Jones, the auctioneer, said it was rare for Welsh gold to be available for auction, and this would give monarchists a chance to design their own royal wedding.

The gold was first used in a royal wedding in 1923 for the band given by George's Vita the Queen Mother.

Meghan Markle's New Podcast Receives Mixed Reviews

Meghan Markle's new podcast, Archetypes, has been criticized as yawn-worthy and yet another swing at the Big Bad Palace.

The Duchess of Sussex published the first instalment of her new Spotify podcast on Tuesday.

Archetypes aims to explore the labels that try to hold women back, according to promotional material released ahead of its debut.

In a teaser clip, Meghan added, “I'll have conversations with women who know all too well how these typecasts shape our narratives.”

She continued, “and I'll talk to historians to understand how we even got here in the first place.”

Meghan said she hoped to rip apart the boxes women have been placed into for generations, but royal expert Daniela Elza rebuked the Duchess as hardly succeeding in her aim in the first episode.

Mrs Elza described the podcast as the 878th swing the Duchess has taken at the firm from afar in a damning review of the Duchess's new production.

Some of the reception to the podcast has been hostile to the production, with The Times calling the first episode almost entirely preposterous.

The Telegraph condemned the debut release, stating that if the rest of the season is anything like the premiere, what we're really going to be listening into week after week is Meghan interviewing herself.

However, independent journalist Clemence Michellin praised the podcast as a show of Meghan and Harry making the right decision when they departed for the US.

She wrote, “The more I hear about the royal family these days, the more it seems clear that the monarchy isn't working for anyone, including the royals themselves.

And from what we've heard on her podcast, it's clear Markle made the right decision when she cut and ran.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's biographer, Omid Scobie, added, “While each episode of the show is designed to illuminate the lived experiences of other women, Meghan has also found a way to undo some of her public dehumanization in the process.”

The first episode, entitled “The Misconception of Ambition,” featured the Duchess's longtime friend and tennis legend, Serena Williams.

The pair discussed careers, motherhood, and how the subjects intersect.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in May 2019.

They then announced the birth of their second child, Lilibet Diana, in June 2021.

Serena and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, welcomed Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. in 2017.

Meghan told Serena, “You made pregnancy look so s**y.

I just waddled around.

I was just tired.

So tired.

Oh my god tired.