Prince Harry was, for a long time, the most eligible bachelor in the UK - maybe even the world.

Before starting to date American actress Meghan Markle in July 2016, and now announcing their engagement, Harry, now 33, was long considered the world's most eligible bachelor with few serious girlfriends.

He expressed a wish to have children, and most notably had relationships with Chelsy Davy, on and off between 2004 and 2011, and Cressida Bonas, with whom he split amicably in 2014. But ultimately he had not yet been tamed.

For women of a certain age, Prince Harry was the figure that they would often joke they wanted to marry and he was even the icon of Kiss-a-Ginger Day, with People magazine calling him "everyone's favourite redhead".

An entire TV show, I Wanna Marry "Harry", was based around the prince's popularity and eligibility. In 2014, the reality show led 12 American women to believe they were competing for the affections of Prince Harry, when in fact the bachelor was Matthew Hicks, just a look-a-like.

Now that Prince Henry of Wales, fifth in line to the throne, is officially off the market, women around the world are, naturally, devastated.

On Twitter, as well as people asking if the royal wedding date next year would be made a bank holiday, there were scores of women devastated over the fact that their dreams had been crushed and no longer could they live in a fantasy princess world - not without thinking of the prince's infidelity, anyway.

"Damn, Prince Harry off the market," and "bittersweet, I wanted to marry Prince Harry!" are just two messages of despair which summed up some of the mood on Twitter. And it spread around the world - one Italian woman said "Noooo prince Harry fuori dal mercato..." meaning he was "out of business," while a Filipino said "hindi ko matanggap," meaning she could not accept it.

But men shared the sentiment, as Markle, 36, despite being divorced, is considered a catch herself, especially by fans of the TV show Suits. One said: "If anyone had to marry Rachel from Suits before me I suppose Prince Harry will do."

See some of the reaction below:

Prince Harry Meghan Markle Royal Wedding