New York: Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has announced his engagement to his partner Ann Lesley Smith, a former police chaplain.

Mr Murdoch, 92, and Ms Smith, 66, met in September at an event at his vineyard in California.

The businessman told the New York Post, one of his own publications: “I dreaded falling in love – but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”

Murdoch first met his soon-to-be wife Smith, 66, in September at his vineyard Moraga in California’s Bel Air and he called her two weeks later, Murdoch told the News Corp-owned NY Post, which broke the news of the engagement.

Smith was previously married to Chester Smith, a country singer, radio and TV executive, who passed away in August 2008.

Murdoch divorced his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, a former top model, in August last year.