PRINCE William and his long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton have split up, a source confirmed today.
The couple, who met at St Andrews University, have reached an "amicable agreement" to end their relationship, according to The Sun.
The source confirmed the 24-year-old second-in-line to the throne and 25-year-old Kate had gone their separate way
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The split was caused by the huge pressures on the young couple and because of the time William has devoted to Army life, The Sun reported.
Clarence House refused to comment on the story.
A spokesman for the Prince said: "We don't comment on Prince William's private life."
William is training to be a armoured troop commander at Camp Bovington in Dorset while Kate is working as an accessories buyer.
The couple were widely tipped to one day tie the knot, with speculation mounting after Kate attended William's graduation parade held at Sandhurst last December.
It was the first time she had attended such a high-profile event where the Queen and other senior members of the family were present.
Dating a future King saw Miss Middleton propelled into the spotlight.
She faced a barrage of press outside her home on her birthday in January and recently lodged a complaint with the Press Complaint Commission over alleged harassment, which she later settled.
With news of their split, royal fans' hopes for a William and Kate wedding have been dashed.
The source refused to go into details, saying simply: "That's life."
The couple's relationship has been under strain since William passed out from Sandhurst as an Army officer last December, The Sun reported.
Since William started his training course in Dorset on March 16 they have seen each other no more than once a week, according to the newspaper. A "close friend" of the couple told the paper: "As far as Kate is concerned, William simply hasn't been paying her enough attention.
"She is stuck in London while he is living in an officer's mess in Dorset. Kate feels hugely frustrated that their relationship just seems to be going backwards at a rate of knots."
The romance of the late Princess Diana's eldest son had been conducted under the full glare of media publicity, with paparazzi constantly hounding Middleton outside her London apartment. The young couple were seen hugging and kissing during a skiing holiday in Switzerland only last month.
Clever, quiet, stylish and discreet, Middleton, the daughter of middle-class entrepreneurs, had won favourable comments from royal watchers.
The tabloids were convinced that she would one day become Queen Kate.
The comparisons with William's late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, were endless - and mostly in Kate's favour. Diana was a troubled young aristocrat scarred by her parents' bitter divorce. Kate is the eldest child in a stable, well-grounded family.
William and Kate shared a house as students at St Andrews University in Scotland. From there, romance blossomed.
"They were able to get to know each other quite uniquely - they had four years together away from the royal circus," said royal biographer Penny Junor.
"They lived a normal kind of life. They started as friends which has to be the best recipe."
