A royal romance in splitsville?

Prince William, the photogenic second-in-line to the British throne, and his longtime girlfriend have decided to split up, a London tabloid reported Saturday.

The Sun splashed its scoop about the 24-year-old prince and Kate Middleton on the front page, thwarting royal-watchers’ hopes of a wedding to match that of his parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

One source said the couple’s separate lives were creating distance, telling the paper, “As far as Kate is concerned, William simply hasn’t been paying her enough attention. She is stuck in London while he is living in an officers mess in Dorset. Kate feels hugely frustrated that their relationship just seems to be going backwards.”

The Sun report was accompanied by a column by Arthur Edwards, the paper’s veteran royal photographer who has known William for some time. Speaking Saturday morning on the BBC radio program “Today,” Edwards said, “We have checked the story thoroughly and came up with the right answers -- the fact that they have amicably decided to call it a day.”

Royal spokesman Paddy Harverson said, “We’re not commenting on it; we never discuss the prince’s private life. We’re not confirming the story in the Sun, and we’re not denying it, either.”

The couple met at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where both began their studies in 2001. Romance blossomed, with Middleton joining royal skiing parties and William spending several off-duty weekends during his army training at the Middleton family home in the county of Berkshire, the Sun reported.

Since his military career began in earnest, however, media reports cluck-clucked that William seemed to prefer drinking with his army friends near his barracks to evenings in London with his girlfriend. Tabloid paparazzi have been snapping him outside nightclubs carousing with groups of friends that did not include Middleton.

Middleton has been a focus of photographers since attending the prince’s graduation from the military academy of Sandhurst -- as near an official outing as was needed for royal-watchers to dog her every move.

Edwards and other royal-watchers place partial blame for the split on the media frenzy, but noted that William told journalists a year ago that he was not ready for marriage.

The young royal possibly “doesn’t think marriage the greatest thing in the world,” from his own experience of his parents’ messy breakup, the photographer said.