Future king Prince William and his long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton have parted.

The couple, who were widely tipped to marry, decided to split earlier this week, but separated amicably with no one else involved, a source said.

William, 24, and 25-year-old Kate, who had been together for several years, had faced huge pressures in the public spotlight, with Kate looking likely to one day be Queen.

A "close friend" of the Prince and Miss Middleton told The Sun newspaper: "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."

A source confirmed the relationship had broken down, adding simply: "That's life."

William passed out from Sandhurst as an Army officer last December and started his training to be a armoured troop commander in Camp Bovington, Dorset, on March 16, leaving the couple seeing each other no more than once a week.

Kate has endured intense media interest and recently made her first official complaint about harassment to the Press Complaints Commission over an image that appeared of her in the Daily Mirror. She settled the matter after the paper apologised.

On her birthday in January, she faced a media scrum outside her London flat on her way to work and her lawyers said she was being followed on a daily basis.

News of the split will merely intensify the focus on Miss Middleton, who will be left without the security she enjoyed when out on the town with William and his accompanying police protection officers.

With the Prince now back on the market as one of the world's most eligible bachelor, there will be immense press interest on who will be the next woman to catch his eye.

Speculation had mounted that Kate, who works as an accessories buyer for Jigsaw, would be the one he would marry after she attended his graduation parade at Sandhurst in December.

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