Where Is Natasha Richardson’s Engagement Ring From Liam Neeson?

By the early 1990s, Liam Neeson, who’d had flings with several of Hollywood’s leading ladies, from Julia Roberts and Barbara Streisand to Helen Mirren and Brooke Shields, considered himself a “confirmed bachelor,” People reports—but that all changed when he met his Broadway play co-star (and on-stage romantic interest) Natasha Richardson in 1992. “I’d never had that kind of an explosive chemistry situation with an actor or actress,” Neeson told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes in 2014. Over the course of Anna Christie’s roll-out, the couple fell “madly, passionately” in love (her words, per the outlet), which led to the dissolution of the actress’ marriage to producer Robert Fox; the couple tied the knot in 1994, first in Northern Ireland (where Neeson is from) and then again at their home in upstate New York. Before the celebrity couple exchanged vows, however, the Love Actually actor got down on one knee and asked The Parent Trap star to be his wife—and did so with a nesting set engagement ring, complete with several yellow gold bands and what appears to be a modest, round-cut diamond in the center.

Despite the actress’ high-profile status (she was beloved by Hollywood and the public alike) and industry-shaping roles, surprisingly little is known about the couple’s engagement or the ring Neeson used to propose to her. We do know that the actress gave her then-boyfriend a “James Bond ultimatum” when he was touted to be the next 007, suggesting that he wouldn’t have time to marry her should he accept it; he didn’t get the part, but he did get the girl, Neeson told James Cordon in 2021. As for the ring? Its origin story is murky, but Richardson did wear the dainty stone regularly throughout the course of the couple’s 15-year marriage, which was tragically cut short on March 18, 2009, after the actress suffered a traumatic brain injury while skiing in Quebec. 

Media outlets didn’t confirm if Richardson was wearing her ring at the time of her accident and death—which means the current whereabouts of her simple engagement ring are a mystery. There are, however, three strong possibilities if the actress wasn’t buried with this piece of jewelry. The most likely is that Neeson still has his late wife’s diamond in his possession. The reason? The actor has done everything possible to keep Richardson’s memory alive—and has remained largely single since her passing (he briefly dated author Freya St. Johnston in 2012 and hasn’t entered into a long-term relationship since). As of 2020, the actor was still visiting her gravesite in rural New York daily. “I speak to her every day at her grave which is about a mile and a half down the road,” he told The Inquirer in July 2020. “I go down there quite often, so I do speak to her as if she’s here. Not that she answers me.”

It’s possible, however, that Neeson won’t hold onto the ring forever. The couple had two sons, Micheál and Daniel, over the course of their marriage (they were 13 and 12 respectively when their mother died)—which means they could use the ring to propose to their own partners one day, should Neeson decide to pass it on. Micheál, in particular, found a poignant way to remain connected to his mother in the wake of her passing; the actor changed his surname to Richardson in her honor in 2018. “I think he did the right thing. It was a lovely homage. Natasha’s family, mother and sisters, were very touched by it as indeed I was,” Neeson said on Radio Andy in 2020, reports People. Daniel, the founder of a tequila company, could also be the recipient; more active on Instagram, he has been in a relationship with his girlfriend, Natalie Ackerman, since 2017 (which means a proposal with an heirloom ring could be imminent!) and regularly posts about his late mom.