Rupert Murdoch has called off his engagement to his prospective fifth wife, Ann Lesley Smith, months before they were due to get married.

The 92-year-old media tycoon announced his engagement a fortnight ago, when he said that the 66-year-old American radio host would be his “last” wife.

She was seen last week wearing an 11-carat diamond engagement ring, said to be worth about £2 million, and a summer wedding was planned, but sources confirmed that the whirlwind romance is now over.

Vanity Fair magazine claimed that Murdoch had become “increasingly uncomfortable” with his fiancee’s outspoken evangelical views.

According to other reports, the couple came to a “mutual decision” after a heart-to-heart discussion on Monday night, during which Smith said she was struggling to cope with being in the public eye.

Murdoch divorced his fourth wife, model and actor Jerry Hall, last year, and was first seen with Smith in January, when they were spotted on holiday together in Barbados.

The Daily Telegraph, London