BREAKING: Billionaire Rupert Murdoch, 92, calls off engagement with ex-fiancèe

American businessman, Rupert Murdoch, and dental hygienist, Ann Lesley Smith, have called off their two-week-old engagement.

Murdoch, 92, proposed to Smith, 66, in March after a whirlwind romance which both tagged “a gift from God”.

In an interview with one of his own publications, the New York Post, the media mogul revealed that he popped the question with an Asscher-cut diamond solitaire ring on St. Patrick’s Day in New York City.

He also disclosed in the interview that they planned to tie the knot by summer this year.

However, the couple have decided to part ways barely a month after their engagement, Daily Mail reports.

According to sources close to Smith, the lovebirds both reached a mutual decision to break up as Ann could not cope with the publicity that trailed their relationship.

“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.”

Prior to the engagement, Murdoch was married four times and recently finalised his divorce from American supermodel and fourth wife, Jerry Hall, after six years of marriage.