After Giving His Wife Some \201cAwful\201d Gifts in the Past, Prince William Made Up for It by Gifting Princess Kate £121K in Jewelry

Kate Middleton wearing a gift from Prince William

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 8 January 2024

Tomorrow is the Princess of Wales’ 42nd birthday and, in addition to a potentially fantastic gift from her father-in-law King Charles, we’re wondering what Prince William will give his wife this year. (After all, let’s be honest—Kate will probably never mark this past year as the easiest year of her life.)

Now, look—William himself has admitted that he hasn’t always been a pro in the gift giving department. But sometimes he nails it, like for their third wedding anniversary in 2014, or in the aftermath of a disastrous gift he gave to Kate, which he followed up with £121,000 in jewelry, The Sun reports.

When Kate stepped out to support the Olympics in London back in 2012, she dazzled in the Olympic Cartier set—estimated to be worth more than six figures. The set is thought to have been given to Kate as a 30th birthday present earlier that year (although it hasn’t been confirmed). The 18-carat chain has pavé diamonds and three intertwined circles of pink, yellow, and white gold. The gift—reportedly from William—is beautiful, and surely received well by his wife.

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Another gift Kate loved? A £4,850 Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch, which is thought to have been given to Kate for their third wedding anniversary, The Sun reports; she wore the piece during a royal tour of Canada. Years later, in 2022, Kate wore a pair of £100 drop earrings that were a Christmas gift from William. The gold-plated earrings featured an intricate coin-style design and were by Sezane, a brand Kate is known to love.

But there was at least one gift that William himself called “awful,” and one that Kate will “never let him forget,” he said. While appearing on a podcast with Peter Crouch on BBC Radio Five Live, William sheepishly admitted that he once gave Kate “a pair of binoculars.”

“I did get my wife a pair of binoculars once,” he said. “She’s never let me forget that. That was early on in the courtship, that was—I think that sealed the deal. It didn’t go well. Honestly, I have no idea why I bought her a pair of binoculars. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

As we wonder what William will gift Kate tomorrow, let’s remember that the royal family is well known for giving one another gag gifts at Christmas rather than lavish ones. One of the most memorable gag gifts, for example, was when Prince Harry gave his grandmother Queen Elizabeth a bath hat that read “Ain’t life a b—tch.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.