Prince William plans June engagement?

Newspaper reports have claimed that Prince William is planning to announce his engagement in June.

According to the Daily Mail, the royal announcement about William and Kate Middleton's wedding plans could be made on either June 3 or 4.

Biographer Tina Brown, who was a friend of William's mother Princess Diana, wrote in a blog: "A high-placed source in royal circles tells me that two days in June have been mysteriously blocked out on the palace diaries - June 3 and 4.

"They suggest this is a likely date for the engagement announcement at last of the 27-year-old Prince William and his patient squeeze, 28-year-old Kate Middleton.

"If so, a wedding itself would probably follow in November, like the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who married at Westminster Abbey that cold, damp November day in 1947."

She continued: "The Queen and Prince Philip, moreover, are approaching two landmark moments: Philip will be 90 in June 2011, and the queen celebrates her diamond jubilee - 60 years on the throne - in February 2012. Their closeness to their grandson, especially Philip, makes them eager, I am told, to see William settled in matrimony."

William and Middleton have been dating for seven years since meeting at St Andrews University.

A St James's Palace spokesperson said: "We never discuss Prince William's private life or comment on what is merely speculation."