Meghan Markle accepted a pair of diamond earrings worth £1,990 from the Hopefuls of Dragons' Den – after Prince Harry revealed she 'kept presents but gave them out' at Kensington Palace

Meghan Markle accepted £1,990 worth of diamond earrings from a female-founded jewelery company, its owners have revealed.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, was sent the jewelry from artificial diamond brand Kimai when she was still a working member of the royal family in 2019.

The mother-of-two wore the brand's Felicity earrings, which retail individually for £995, as she visited the charity Smart Works' headquarters in London.

It comes after Prince Harry revealed in his memoirs that his wife would save free gifts sent to her at Kensington Palace and distribute them among her staff – despite the royal family habitually returning unsolicited gifts.

Earlier this month, Kimai's founders Sidney Neuhaus and Jessica Warch appeared on Dragons' Den, where they bragged about the Duchess of Sussex wearing their designs.

The founders – who were seeking a £250,000 investment for a three per cent equity stake in their company – revealed how the royal endorsement boosted their business just two months after they first launched.

They explained: “We started with no investment, and two months after our launch we had Meghan Markle wear our clothes, which allowed us to grow sales significantly, and from there we raised $1.2 million.”

Steven Bartlett – who eventually invested in the company – asked the duo how they managed to get the Duchess of Sussex to wear their jewellery.

Sidney said, “Cold emails.” Jessica added, “We're big believers in cold emails!”

Despite also attracting the interest of dragons Deborah Meade, Sara Davies and Peter Jones, the pair ultimately chose Steven.

The entrepreneur said he was convinced to make an offer after seeing Meghan Markle had worn their designs.

“The moment you said you were going to chase Meghan Markle, you had me,” he said.

Last year, the Duke of Sussex confirmed that Meghan would accept free gifts before he stepped down as royal in January 2020.

Kimai's Felicity Earring contains 26 lab-grown diamonds, totaling 0.24 carats, and costs £995 each.

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

In Spare, the Duke of Sussex wrote: 'She shared all the free gifts she received, clothes, perfume and make-up, with all the women in the office.'

But this is also said to have caused problems, with Prince Harry claiming that an aide was 'asked to resign by Palace HR after we showed them evidence that she had traded 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.

With this in mind, members of the royal family pay for their own clothes to avoid being seen as a commercial enterprise.

Elsewhere in Spare, Prince Harry wrote that the Princess of Wales thought 'Meg had wanted her fashion contacts'.

He added, “But Meg had her own. Maybe they got off to a bad start?'

Meghan Markle wore a sheer black Erdem dress during a January 2016 appearance on NBC's Today

The Princess of Wales wore an Erdem dress to the opening of the V&A Photography Center in October 2018

Following the book's release, it was also reported that tensions between the two women increased after 'Meghan Markle found herself behind the Princess of Wales in the queue' for Erdem's designs.

During her career as an American actress, Meghan Markle fell in love with clothes by British designer Erdem Moralıoğlu, after wearing his dresses to several engagements before entering royal life from 2016.

But when she became publicly involved with Prince Harry, the Princess of Wales is said to have been given priority over Meghan as she was also an existing client.

Meghan wore Erdem's “Davina” dress from his 2015 collection in early 2016 — before it was available to the general public — for an appearance on NBC's Today Program, before she had even met the Duke of Sussex.

The fact that the Canadian-born British designer's looks were handed to Kate first is said to have gone down poorly with the Sussexes, with Meghan reportedly saying that Kate 'wasn't even queen'.

The dress saga comes after a previous alleged row between the couple over bridesmaid dresses for Harry and Meghan's wedding, and a reportedly awkward first meeting with the Cambridges.