Rupert Murdoch, an American businessman, and Ann Lesley Smith, a dental hygienist, have broken off their two-week engagement.
During a brief relationship that both parties referred to as “a gift from God,” Murdoch, 92, proposed to Smith, 66, in March.
The media magnate confessed that he proposed to his girlfriend on St. Patrick’s Day in New York City in an interview with one of his own magazines, the New York Post.
He also said during the interview that they intended to wed by this year’s summer.
Nevertheless, only one month after being engaged, the couple has chosen to split, according to Daily Mail.
Smith’s close friends claim that the couple decided to split because Ann could not handle the media attention their relationship was receiving.
“She just could not cope with being in the public eye. She is very private,” they said. “They sat down and talked yesterday (on Monday) and agreed it was better for them to part.
“He accepts that he will always be in the public eye and there is nothing he can or would do to change that.”
Murdoch, who had been married four times prior to the engagement, recently finalised his divorce from his fourth wife, American supermodel Jerry Hall, after six years of marriage.
