Kate Middleton ‘gifted entry-level £6k Cartier watch by Prince William’ – while Pippa Middleton wears the £14.5k version
WHEN your husband is the heir to the throne, you’d think you’d get the best gifts on the market.
While Prince William has spoiled Kate Middleton with numerous lavish presents over the years, he once gifted his wife with an “entry-level” watch - while her sister Pippa got one worth double the amount.
For their third wedding anniversary in 2014, William is said to have bought Kate a Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch, which you can buy for around £6,000 today.
We saw the glamorous royal take the pricey watch for a spin as she visited one of her charities, The Art Room, in 2014.
We later saw her wearing it in 2016 as she undertook a royal tour with William in Canada.
While the 36mm watch is undeniably a very generous gift, it is worth half of what Pippa Middleton was given by her then-fiance, hedge fund manager James Matthews.
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Pippa has the 33mm version, which is made of a mixture of steel and 18K pink gold and its distinctive bezel is studded with 50 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling 0.63 carats.
The face has a single Roman numeral, 12, with the rest of the dial made of 11 diamonds totalling 0.05 carats.
Compared to Kate’s watch’s £6,000 price tag, Pippa’s is worth an eye-watering £14,500.
And this is in addition to the £250,000 three-carat diamond engagement ring that James popped the question with.
James’ firm Eden Rock Capital Management handles around £1.1billion worth of investments, which helped to finance their £15m Berkshire mansion and a £3million private jet.
The home has a whopping 30 bedrooms and 150 acres of grounds that lead down to a river, complete with a walled garden and greenhouses, reports Daily Mail's Eden Confidential.
Pippa tied the knot with James on May 20, 2017, and they now have three kids, Arthur, Grace and Rose.
Despite Kate’s watch being worth less, Prince William certainly has delivered the goods to Kate over the years - including a whopping £121,000 jewellery set for her birthday.
The Princess of Wales stepped out to support the London Olympic games in 2012 and dazzled in the Olympic Cartier set, which is estimated to be worth in the six figures.
The jaw-dropping set is thought to have been given to Kate as a 30th birthday present, although this hasn’t been confirmed.
The 18-carat chain has pavé diamonds as well as three intertwined circles of pink, yellow and white gold.
While this gift is sure to have gone down well, not all of William’s presents have been welcomed by Kate.
The heir revealed the "awful" gift he bought for his wife and "she'll never let him forget it".
Whilst making an appearance on former England striker Peter Crouch's podcast on BBC Radio Five Live, Wills sheepishly admitted that he previously gave Kate "a pair of binoculars".
After Peter confessed to giving his own wife Abbey Clancy a raincoat for her birthday three years in a row, a chuckling William said: "I did get my wife a pair of binoculars once - 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."
However, other gifts have gone down much better.
In 2022, Kate sported a pair of £100 drop earrings that were a Christmas present from Prince William.
The gold-plated baubles, featuring an intricate coin-style design and dangling jewels, are from high street brand Sezane – which Kate is known to love.
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It's well known that members of the royal family prefer gifting one another light-hearted joke presents instead of expensive presents at Christmas time.
Some of the more memorable gifts exchanged over the years have included a bath hat given to the late Queen by her grandson Prince Harry that read: "Ain't life a b*tch".
