Prince William finally became engaged to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton, giving her his late mother's engagement ring and Britain the prospect of its biggest royal wedding since Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer almost 30 years ago.
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Royal officials announced overnight that William will marry Middleton next spring or summer in London, ending years of rumoured splits, reconciliations and will-they, won't-they speculation. The university romance that seemed to wilt under the pressure of adulthood and the glare of the paparazzi had blossomed at last - after eight years of dating.
In a joint interview televised on Tuesday (local time), William said the couple, who are both 28, had been discussing marriage for at least 12 months.
"As every guy out there will know, it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going," he said, adding that he had a feeling he might marry Middleton from the beginning.
"When I first met Kate I knew there was something very special about her. I knew there was possibly something that I wanted to explore there," the prince said.
William proposed during a holiday in Kenya last month and gave Kate the oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds from jeweller Garrard that his mother, Princess Diana, once wore. The couple declined to say whether the prince had gone down on bended knee when he proposed.
"It was my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today, and the excitement and the fact that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together." William said as the couple posed for photographers inside St. James' Palace.
William is second in line to the British throne after Charles, his father. Kate and William's first child would move ahead of his younger brother Prince Harry to become third in line to the throne.
Kate acknowledged that being queen in the future was "a daunting prospect," and the idea of the royal wedding "nerve-wracking." She said the long relationship had not been without ups and downs - the couple had split up briefly before - but the pair had come out stronger.
William's soldier brother, Prince Harry, issued a statement after finishing his training for the day on Tuesday. He said he was "delighted that my brother has popped the question!" and that he had always wanted a sister.
Middleton brings youth and glamour to a monarchy that has been tarnished by divorce and scandal. A strong, stable marriage - a warm one that lasts decades and produces heirs - could go a long way toward undoing the damage done by the ugly squabbling and televised confessions of adultery that marred the final years of Charles and Princess Diana's tortured marriage, which began on such a high note with their spectacular royal nuptials in 1981. William said the couple wanted a family, and will start thinking about children after the marriage.
"This is their chance to rejuvenate the dynasty," said Patrick Jephson, former private secretary to Princess Diana. "This is an opportunity for a welcome national celebration."
News of their engagement was greeted with enthusiasm - and relief - throughout Britain. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, said they were "absolutely delighted for them both," Buckingham Palace said. William's father, Prince Charles, said he was "absolutely thrilled."
Middleton's parents, Carole and Michael, also gushed.
"We all think he's wonderful, we're extremely fond of him," Michael Middleton said.
The two met as first-year university students at St. Andrew's in Scotland, starting out as just friends but quickly becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Obviously we both have a very fun time together, both have a very good sense of humour about things, we're down to earth, we take the mickey out of each other a lot, and she's got plenty of habits that make me laugh that I tease her about," William said as he and Middleton faced photographers. "She has habits that can make me laugh."
She told reporters that joining the royal family was a "daunting prospect."
"Hopefully I'll take it in my stride," she said.
Middleton described the proposal this way: "It was very romantic, and it was very personal."
Many of the details have not been announced. There is no firm wedding date, and the venue has not been specified, with speculation focusing on St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, both London landmarks. It is not yet clear which dress designer the elegant Middleton will turn to, and the royal titles the couple will assume when they become man and wife have not yet been revealed.
The marriage will link Middleton - whose parents have founded a successful party supply business after working in the airline industry - with Prince William, scion of one of the most wealthy families in the world.
William has endeavoured to lead a normal life, training to become a military helicopter rescue pilot, but has also become accustomed to extravagant holidays at the world's most exclusive hideaways.
As a boy, he was traumatised by his parents' very public divorce and then the tragic loss of his mother. Diana died with her boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed in a 1997 car crash that some believe was caused in part by frenzied paparazzi who were chasing her car through the streets of Paris, causing her inebriated driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Both William and his younger brother Prince Harry enjoy tremendous public goodwill in Britain, in part because the friendly, attractive young men remind many of their mother, a beloved figure.
William spoke movingly of giving Diana's engagement ring to Middleton so that his mother would not be left out of such an important day.
While Charles and Diana seemed forced and tense at times during their brief courtship, William and Middleton seem relaxed and comfortable together. They are both the same age - unlike Charles and the much younger Diana - and they have lived together in shared student housing, giving them an ease and natural affection.
Many in Britain welcomed the royal engagement as a rare piece of good news in a time of economic uncertainty and cutbacks - a time much like 1981, when millions watched Charles and Diana's fairy-tale wedding. Their marriage eventually ended in divorce - but no one was dwelling on that detail.
Prime Minister David Cameron wished the couple "great joy in their life together," and said when he announced the news during a Cabinet meeting it was greeted by cheers and "a great banging of the table." Cameron - who said he had camped out on the street the night before Charles and Diana's wedding procession - predicted that this royal wedding would be a "great moment for national celebration" that would unite Britain.
Charles' Clarence House office said he was "delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton." Using Twitter as well as a news release, it said the couple got engaged last month during a vacation in Kenya.
Kate and William's engagement had been the safest bet in Britain, an event so certain that bookies had stopped taking bets on a 2011 wedding. The date avoids London's Summer Olympics and the queen's Diamond Jubilee, both being held in 2012.
"Kate has been waiting for so long, I expected her to find someone else," said London tour guide Gabrielle Sullo, 53. "The media had called her 'Waitey Katie,' so it's about time that she stopping waiting."
For pomp, the ceremony is likely to fall between the extraordinary spectacle of Charles and Diana's wedding in St. Paul's Cathedral and Charles' subdued second marriage to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall at Windsor Guildhall in 2005.
Jephson, the former secretary to Princess Diana, said her son's nuptials would be "a master class" in wedding planning.
The formal engagement is likely to turn the poised, brunette Middleton - already depicted approvingly in the fashion pages - into a global icon. With her confident good looks and long brown hair, Middleton has already become one of the most photographed women in Britain.
William and Harry have spent a lifetime in the spotlight, with their drunken nights out and female friends the subject of constant tabloid gossip. William, who turned 28 in June, once told an interviewer he wouldn't marry "until I'm at least 28 or maybe 30." But since joining the military, both have kept a lower profile.
Middleton met William at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. They shared a house along with other students in the seaside university town, where William initially studied art history before switching to geography.
In 2002, William paid 200 pounds to sit in the front row at a charity fashion show where Middleton was modelling in a daring outfit. They are thought to have started dating the following year.
St. Andrews congratulated the couple , pointing out that the school has a reputation as "Britain's top matchmaking university."
Middleton is the daughter of self-made millionaires. Her father worked for an airline and her mother was a flight attendant before they started a mail-order business specialising in children's parties, run from their house in southern England.
She attended Marlborough College, an elite private school, where she played tennis and field hockey, before studying art history at St. Andrews. After graduating in 2005, Middleton worked as a buyer for the fashion chain Jigsaw. She is now employed by her family's party-planning business.
Middleton was there when William was commissioned as a British Army officer after graduating from Sandhurst military college in 2006. She was photographed attending public events, going to work, even getting a parking ticket - a level of attention that evoked the romance of William's parents.
But William was determined that Middleton would not suffer the same media hounding endured by his mother and appealed through his office for the media to leave her alone. In 2007, Middleton filed a harassment complaint against a British newspaper. She accepted an apology and admission of error from the Daily Mirror.
At the time, an engagement was so expected that the retail chain Woolworths even commissioned mugs, plates and other Wills-and-Kate memorabilia. The chain has since gone out of business.
