According to reports, Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul, has ended his engagement with his girlfriend Ann Lesley Smith, who is 26 years younger than him. This news comes less than a year after his divorce from Jerry Hall was finalized.
Sources close to Rupert Murdoch have claimed that he abruptly called off his engagement to Ann Lesley Smith just two weeks after announcing their plans to marry. According to US magazine Vanity Fair, the media mogul became concerned about his fiancée’s evangelical views. If the wedding had gone ahead, it would have been Murdoch’s fifth. He was previously married to Patricia Booker, Anna Murdoch Mann, Wendi Murdoch, and Jerry Hall. When the couple announced their engagement, Smith, 66, had spoken about their compatibility and described the relationship as “not her first rodeo”.
The former media mogul Rupert Murdoch proposed to the ex-police chaplain with a diamond ring on St. Patrick’s Day. “I was very nervous,” said Mr. Murdoch. “I dreaded falling in love – but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”
Rupert Murdoch, who has a net worth of £13.9 billion, is a father to six children. His first wife, Patricia Booker, gave birth to his daughter Prudence MacLeod. With his second wife, Anna Mann, he has daughter Elisabeth and sons Lachlan and James. His third wife, Wendi Deng, gave him two daughters, Chloe and Grace. A representative for Mr Murdoch refused to provide a statement.
The couple’s relationship became widely publicized in January after they were photographed vacationing in Barbados. It was reported that they had plans to move in together at a property worth $30 million.