Meghan Markle accepted pair of £1990 diamond earrings from Dragons' Den hopefuls - after Prince Harry revealed she 'kept gifts but shared them out' in Kensington Palace

Meghan Markle accepted £1990 worth of diamond earrings from a female-founded jewellery business, the owners have revealed. 

 The Duchess of Sussex, 42, was sent the jewellery by artificial diamond brand Kimai when she was still a working member of the Royal Family in 2019. 

Pictured: Meghan Markle seen wearing the £1990 pair of diamond earrings to visit the Smart Works headquarters in January 2019

 The mother-of-two wore the brand's Felicity earrings, which are sold separately for £995, when she visited the charity Smart Works' headquarters in London. It comes after Prince Harry revealed in his memoir that his wife would keep freebies sent to her at Kensington Palace and distribute them among her staff - despite the Royal Family usually sending back unsolicited gifts. Earlier this month, Kimai's founders Sidney Neuhaus and Jessica Warch appeared on Dragons' Den where they boasted about the Duchess of Sussex wearing their designs. The founders - who were looking for a £250,000 investment for a three per cent equity stake in their business - revealed how the royal endorsement boosted their business, just a two months after they first launched. They explained: 'We've launched without investment, and then two months after our launch we got Meghan Markle to wear our pieces, which enabled us to grow the revenue significantly, and from there we raised $1.2 million.' Steven Bartlett - who ended up investing in the business - questioned the duo on how they managed to get the Duchess of Sussex sporting their jewellery. Sidney said: 'Cold emails.' Jessica then added: 'We're big believers in cold emails!' Despite also peaking the interest of dragons Deborah Meade, Sara Davies and Peter Jones, the pair ended up choosing Steven. The entrepreneur said he was convinced to make an offer after seeing that Meghan Markle had worn their designs. 'The moment you told be about hounding down Meghan Markle, you had me,' he said. Last year, the Duke of Sussex confirmed that Meghan would accept free gifts before stepping down as a royal in January 2020. 

Kimai's Felicity Earring features 26 lab-grown diamonds, totalling 0.24 carat, and retails at £995 each.

 Writing in Spare, the Duke of Sussex explained: 'She shared all the freebies she received, clothes and perfumes and make-up, with all the women in the office.' But this is also said to have caused problems, as Prince Harry claims one assistant was 'asked to resign by Palace HR after we showed them evidence she'd traded on her position with Meg to get freebies'. Dresses worn by the Princess of Wales often sell out within minutes of her being pictured in a particular brand or designer item. 

Dragons' Den's Steven Bartlett with Kimai's Co-founders Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus after investing £250,000 in their business

 With this in mind, members of the Royal family pay for their own clothes in order to avoid being seen as a commercial enterprise. Elsewhere in Spare, Prince Harry wrote about how believed the Princess of Wales thought 'Meg had wanted her fashion contacts'. He added: 'But Meg had her own. They'd got off on the wrong foot, perhaps?'