Britain's Prince William, Kate Middleton are engaged

The college romance that seemed to falter under the pressure of adulthood and the glare of the paparazzi has blossomed at last. Prince William is finally engaged to his longtime girlfriend and will give Britain its biggest royal wedding since Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer almost 30 years ago.

Royal officials announced Tuesday that William will marry Kate Middleton next spring or summer in London, ending years of rumored splits, reconciliations and will-they, wont-they speculation, The Associated Press reports.

William, 28, 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.

William says he had discussed marriage with his future bride for more than a year before he finally proposed on a holiday in Kenya last month.

The prince, speaking in a joint television interview as they announced their engagement Tuesday, said he had been planning to pop the question for a while. But he says "as every guy out there will know, it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going."

The prince says "it just felt really right out in Africa and was beautiful at the time." William did not disclose precise details of how he proposed but said it showed his romantic side.

Prince William has given his fiancee the engagement ring that belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana.

Middleton, also 28, said Diana was an inspirational woman and she would have loved to meet her. She said she was very nervous about meeting William's father, Prince Charles, and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. But she said they were both very friendly to her.

Middleton also said Tuesday she was initially very shy about meeting William in college, but they became very close friends early on.

She says they went through good and bad times throughout the eight years they were together and came out stronger.

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