It has been announced by the Royal household that Prince William has split from his girlfriend Kate Middleton
In a relationship that has lasted 6 years, the fairy tale has now come to a sad end. Although either household won't comment any further on the split, we had been told that it was amicable.
They had attended St Andrews University in Fife, in Scotland and had met in 2001. Since then, they had endured, like any other royal couple, the media pressure that his mother had so desperately wanted to stay away from.
This spilt has come to light in the shadow of Miss Middleton's recent feud with The Daily Mirror newspaper in the UK who printed a close up picture - she complained of harassment by the paper. We wonder if perhaps, the media spotlight was becoming increasingly difficult for her.
On BBC Five Live, Duncan Larcombe, who had originally covered the story for The Sun newspaper has said of the news, "My understanding, from what I've been told, is that William's feeling is he's too young to get married. The last person on earth who's going to be pressured by newspaper columnists and television chat shows to get married is Prince William."
For someone who second in line to the throne, he has to chose carefully who he wants to date. After all, it is the position of the next Queen of England that is up for grabs. This may have brought about some more focus for the Prince since earlier this year, there had been much speculation of a possible engagement for the couple.
Yet the road had never been smooth for one of the most talked about young couples in the UK press. It was two years ago when Miss Middleton's lawyers contacted various newspapers in a bid to leave her alone.
The young woman had to suffer the media pushing her family and friends for information on her and her relationship with Prince William, particularly since her semi official engagement at the Prince's passing out parade last December at Sandhurst.