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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Christopher Bucktin & Kirsten McStay

Rupert Murdoch, 92, 'calls off engagement' two weeks after announcing the news

Rupert Murdoch has reportedly called off his engagement only two weeks after announcing that he was due to tie the knot again.

US magazine Vanity Fair has reported that sources close to the 92-year-old media mogul said he and his fiancee Ann Lesley Smith had "abruptly" called off their engagement.

According to reports, Murdoch had grown alarmed by his wife-to-be's evangelical views.

The wedding, which was due to take place this summer, would have been his fifth.

The billionaire has previously been married to Jerry Hall, Wendi Murdoch, Anna Murdoch Mann, and Patricia Booker.

Speaking about their wedding plans two weeks ago, Smith, 66, gushed about how compatible the couple are saying she “speaks Rupert's language” adding the relationship was “not her first rodeo”, writes The Mirror.

The businessman proposed to the former police chaplain with an Asscher cut diamond solitaire on St. Patrick’s Day.

Mr Murdoch, who is worth £13.9 billion, said: “I was very nervous.

“I dreaded falling in love - but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”

Rupert Murdoch is said to have called off his engagement (AFP via Getty Images)

Murdoch has six children, including daughter Prudence MacLeod with his first wife Patricia Booker, daughter Elisabeth and sons Lachlan and James with his second spouse Anna Mann, and daughter Chloe and Grace, who he shares with his third wife, Wendi Deng.

A spokesperson for Mr Murdoch declined to comment.

The pair's romance hit headlines at the start of the year after they were spotted holidaying in Barbados.

Rupert and Ann Lesley met in September 2022 at his Moraga vineyard in California.

He had been dating the 66-year-old former dental hygienist for almost a year (AFP via Getty Images)

Ann Lesley said that their relationship was a "gift from God," adding the pair had the same beliefs as each other.

She was seen last week wearing an 11-carat diamond engagement ring which was estimated to be worth approximately $2.5million.

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