Prince William finally became engaged to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton, giving her his late mother’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring, as Britain looked forward to its biggest royal wedding since Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer almost 30 years ago.

William is second in line to the British throne after Charles, his father. Middleton acknowledged that being queen was “a daunting prospect.”

Many in Britain welcomed the royal engagement as a rare piece of good news in a time of economic uncertainty and cutbacks — a time much like 1981, when millions watched Charles and Diana’s fairy-tale wedding.

William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband Prince Philip “are absolutely delighted for them both,” Buckingham Palace said. Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, welcomed the prince to their family.

Charles’ Clarence House office said he was “delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.” Middleton met William at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In 2002, William paid 200 pounds to sit in the front row at a charity fashion show where Middleton was modeling in a daring outfit. After graduating in 2005, Middleton worked as a buyer for the fashion chain Jigsaw. Middleton then became a media darling — especially after both graduated, which ended a British media agreement to leave William alone while he was at university.

Middleton was there when William was commissioned as a British Army officer after graduating from Sandhurst military college in 2006. In 2007, Middleton filed a harassment complaint against a British newspaper. William’s army training kept them apart, said some. Still others murmured that senior courtiers felt Middleton’s middle-class background wasn’t royal material.

When William graduated from his first flying course in spring 2008, Middleton applauded from the sidelines — although his training was not without incident. The pair have recently seen each other mostly on weekends, with William a frequent visitor to the Middleton family house in the affluent village of Bucklebury, 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of London.

Clarence House said after the wedding, the couple will live in north Wales, where William is based with the RAF. Middleton has rarely, if ever, spoken about William in public.