I'm a consultant psychiatrist - here's why Taylor Swift's lavish engagement might backfire

Taylor Swift has announced her engagement to US football star Travis Kelce in a series of carefully-curated images - including one of her ring, which has predictably gone viral. Jewellery experts have estimated the eye-catching rock could cost anywhere from £500,000 to £4million.

Even in our 'woke' and increasingly egalitarian times, an engagement ring is meant to be expensive. It signals a man's commitment to the woman - the more he spends, the more he must be willing to commit for the longer term.

Thus, the ring becomes a publicly-declared signal of serious intent and financial commitment, an indicator that an exchange has occurred. He is getting a 'catch' - so must acknowledge he understands just how lucky he is. Also, he is signalling that he can be a significant provider for the future and look after his bride-to-be.

But recent research reveals the size of the rock doesn't necessarily equate to the stability of the union. In fact, it even suggests the more you spend on the engagement ring, the shorter the subsequent marriage.

The study was conducted by two university economists and titled A Diamond is Forever and Other Fairy Tales: The Relationship between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration. The pair surveyed 3,000 married couples in the United States - revealing that the risk of divorce was 1.3 times higher when spending £1,500 to £3,000 on an engagement ring compared to spending just £370 to £1,500.

One reason a more expensive engagement ring is associated with faster marriage dissolution, suggested the authors, is that it reveals reckless wastefulness that becomes an ominous predictor of future financial stress. This could lead to arguing over money, which affects a relationship in the longer term.

Another reason is it might signal insecurity in the man - so he splurges to compensate for his own sense of inadequacy. And that is never going to end well.

Alternatively, expensive jewellery might suggest a woman choosing a man for the wrong reason - an alpha male who can spend, but who may not be able to provide enough emotional support when needed. A simpler explanation is that if you can afford an expensive ring you can also afford divorce lawyers - and the cost of a marriage dissolution - rather than persist in enduring the ups and downs of married life like the rest of us. While Swift and Kelce are both multi-millionaires, money is unlikely to come into the equation. However, they might want to take note.

As a psychiatrist who is involved in a lot of marital therapy, often with high net-worth or celebrity clients, I would caution that even for people with a lot of money, an eye-wateringly expensive ring may signify more than just love and adoration.

Obviously, an exorbitant item of jewellery can be part of a calculated publicity drive to further boost the career of a multi-platinum-selling pop star.

But those who live by the sword die by the sword, so the risk of heightened publicity around any possible future break-up is now multiplied. In a sense, super-famous people like Swift and Kelce are caught in a trap; if he bought her a more reasonably priced ring, perhaps that would stoke publicity about whether he was being 'cheap'.

But here's the basic problem, are these two human beings committing to each other and all the rather mundane, ordinary and unglamorous hard work a marriage signifies, or are they careerists? Yes, these two attractive lovers boast many admirable qualities, but matrimony is ultimately successful because of relentless endurance and personal sacrifice - not financial outlay. So can they get past the basic selfishness that drives people to get to the top, shed that self-obsession, and put one another first?

Celebrity marriages are often about choosing the other candidate as a personal adornment, a trophy, another signal of special success. And it's that ultimate narcissism that kills many of these marriages. That ring is therefore loaded with a lot more meaning, than just carats. But I wish them well, and hope it lasts.

• Dr Raj Persaud is a Harley Street consultant psychiatrist and author of The Mental Vaccine for Covid-19, published by Amberley