'Absolutely delighted': Kate reveals her joy at sister Pippa's engagement to her hedge fund beau as she steps out wearing her diamond sparkler

Gleaming in the sunlight, Pippa, 32, left, beamed as she flashed the huge diamond, which was surrounded by a cluster of smaller diamonds, right. 


Commenting on the dazzler, Rod Harris, a diamond specialist who owns WHY Jewellers in Dorset, said: 'It appears to be an asscher or step cut square radiant diamond surrounded by channel set brilliant cuts. It is very sophisticated and practical, the design echoing themes of the deco era.' Pippa's rock is markedly different in style from Kate's, inset bottom. After meeting in 2001 at St Andrews - and enduring a rocky and very well-documented relationship - Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton in 2010 in Kenya with his mother's 12-carat Ceylon sapphire ring. James, inset top, asked Pippa to marry him last weekend during a weekend away in the Lake District and within a moment she said 'yes' and suddenly Britain's most eligible young woman was off the market.