As part of a wedding, both bride and groom will exchange rings to symbolize the display of love and royals do have a long standing tradition since 1923 in the use of welsh gold bands.
Welsh gold is gold that occurs naturally in two distinct areas of Wales and highly prized because of its origin and scarcity. One area it is found in is North Wales in a band stretching from Barmouth, past Dolgellau and up towards Snowdonia.The use of gold from Wales is a 100-year-old tradition for the royal family, with their official website noting that they have used pure Welsh gold to create their wedding rings since 1923 when Queen Mother married the Duke of York on 26 April, 1923.
As Princess Beatrice prepares to marry Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on Friday 29 May at the Chapel Royal, which is located within the grounds of St James’s Palace, we expect to see the daughter of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew wear a wedding band made of pure Welsh gold.
According to the jewellers Clogau, the Queen’s own wedding ring is made from a nugget of pure Welsh gold from the Clogau mine. The Clogau St. David’s gold mine was once the largest and richest mine of all the gold mines in the Dolgellau gold mining area. It is situated in Bontddu, near Barmouth in Gwynedd north-west Wales. After producing copper and a little lead for quite a number of years, the mine developed into gold production in the 1862 ‘rush’ and continued as a major operator until 1911, during which 165,031 tons of gold ore was mined resulting in 78,507 troy ounces (2,442 kg) of gold.
It worked the St David’s lode of Clogau mountain alongside the co-owned Vigra Mine.
For over 150 years, the mine went through mixed fortunes with the gold veins being most inconsistent and difficult to locate. Since 1911 the mine has been re-opened several times for smaller-scale operations. By the late 1990’s however, the last train carrying Welsh gold from the Clogau mine clanked to a halt. In 1999 the mine was taken over and held by a local exploration company.
Other royals like Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Princess Diana, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
Besides the ring we are very giddy on the choice of tiara Princess Beatrice will wear as she has never been seen wearing one.
