Poundland is selling £1 ‘standby’ engagement rings for women to pop the question this leap year
8 January 2020, 12:56 | Updated: 8 January 2020, 13:02
Bargain store Poundland selling engagement rings for just £1.
As the tradition goes, leap years meant that women were free to propose to their other halves, instead of men going down on one knee.
But while it’s perfectly normal for anyone to ask their partner to marry them nowadays, Poundland has come up with a ‘standby ring’ to help those out who are tired of waiting around.
February 29 occurs only once every four years, and with the 2020 leap year upon us, the budget store has stocked up on a simple faux-silver band called the ‘Ask Him Ring’.
It comes in a blue velvet box and is described as a ‘stand-by engagement ring,’ while partners wait for a real diamond, with the packaging reading: “Take the leap and do the asking... Because he might never get round to it."
After a photo of the item was shared on Facebook group Extreme Couponing & Bargains UK, users were quick to comment.
One woman wrote: “Could this be your lucky year?!” before tagging her other half, while another joked: “Finally it's going to happen there's a ring in our budget.”
But some users weren’t quite as keen, with someone slamming: "Never in a million years!"
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A spokesperson for Poundland told The Sun, their ring is "the perfect way for women to take control of their destiny and for men to show off their love status and enjoy the engagement limelight for a change!
“The Poundland proposal is definitely the way to do it in 2020; and at only £1 why wait another four years to get down on one knee!"
The tradition itself is said to date back to 5th century Ireland when St. Brigid of Kildare complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait too long for men to propose.
The story goes that St. Patrick then ruled the women could propose on this one day in February during a leap year.
Although, it is now 2020 and anyone is of course, capable of asking their other half for their hand in marriage on any day of the year.
