James Middleton Proposed With A Ring Nearly Identical To Kate's
Congratulations are in order for the royal family! Kate Middleton's brother James Middleton is engaged to Alizee Thevenet, a French financial analyst based in London. The lovebirds announced the happy news via James' Instagram on Sunday, Oct. 6, with a selfie taken in England's Lake District against a beautiful mountain backdrop featuring the two biggest grins known to humankind. Another thing visible in the pic? A gorgeous sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. Alizee Thevenet's engagement ring is nearly identical to Kate Middleton's sparkler, and it's incredibly stunning.
Alizee's ring appears to be a large blue sapphire flanked or surrounded by diamonds on a white gold band. Similarly, Kate's ring is an 18-carat sapphire surrounded by a halo of 14 diamonds with eight prongs on a silver band, according to the Daily Mail. It was originally worn by Princess Diana during her engagement and marriage to Prince Charles. When Kate and Prince William announced their engagement in 2010, William explained the significance of the jewelry.
"It is very special to me," he said. "It was my way to make sure my mother did not miss out on today and the excitement that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together."
According to the Daily Mail, the ring worn by Diana and Kate was from a selection presented by the jeweler Garrard and initially cost approximately $34,510. It is currently valued at around $370,000.
While James and Alizee haven't revealed the significance behind her ring, it sure looks perfect on her finger. The engagement was initially reported by the Daily Mail on Friday, Oct. 4, claiming that a friend of the couple said Alizee had been spotted wearing a sapphire ring on her left ring finger and that they would announce the engagement the following week.
It didn't take that long — within two days, James shared the exciting news on Instagram, writing, "❤️She said OUI ❤️.Our secret is out but we couldn’t be happier to share the news 🥂🍾#jalizee 🇬🇧🇫🇷"
The couple reportedly met in 2018 when Alizee stopped to pet James' dog Ella at the South Kensington Club. In January 2019, they were reportedly spotted on vacation in St. Bart's with Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews. That same month, Alizee's father, Jean-Gabriel Thevenet, gushed about the couple. "James is a very charming man," he told the Daily Mail. "I am very happy that Alizee is together with James. I know she is very happy. We keep our fingers crossed for them... James and the Middleton family are very charming. We have a lot of admiration for the whole Middleton family — James, his sisters and his parents."
They made their relationship Instagram-official in May 2019 with a nautical selfie of them twinning in matching red turtlenecks on a boat.
In September 2019, a source told the Daily Mail that James and Alizee had moved in together in West London. "He seems finally to have found 'The One,'" a reported friend of James told the outlet at the time.
Indeed he has!