SIMULTANEOUS statements from Buckingham Palace and from the Prince and Princess of Wales's lawyers have signalled the formal ending of a "fairy tale" marriage that had long turned sour.
With a decree nisi set to be granted on Monday, the decree absolute six weeks later will come roughly a month after the couple's 15th wedding anniversary on July 29th.
After highly intimate admissions culminating in Princess Diana's television interview, and three years of deadlock since the couple first separated, it was Queen Elizabeth who eventually decided enough was enough, urging both parties in a letter last December to seek a divorce and allow the royal family to re-capture some of its dignity.
Thus began acrimonious and despite the supposed secrecy some of the most public matrimonial negotiations ever.
When the lawyers Mr Anthony Julius of Mishcon De Reya for the princess, former debutante Ms Fiona Shackleton of the queen's solicitors, Farrer and Co, for the prince were instructed to begin bargaining, nothing other than a "clean break" settlement featuring a hefty lump sum was ever likely. The final offer of up to £17 million plus funding of around £400,000 a year for the princess's Kensington Palace private office, was communicated to her last Thursday.
The queen is expected to find much of the £17 million out of her personal fortune, reputedly around £50 million. The prince's income from the Duchy of Cornwall and investments, after paying tax and expenses, is about £1 million a year, making it impossible for him to find such a sum.
Having initially resisted the idea of a divorce the princess always held most of the negotiating cards.
In February she was prepared to declare, however, that she would not seek to retain the title, Her Royal Highness. Diana, Princess of Wales, as she will be known, will thus be technically obliged to curtsey to her sons William and Harry and to her former husband.
The statement from the palace, emphasising the princess's continuing membership of the royal family and provision of a "central and secure home" for her and the children, shows a determination to draw a line on the past and focus on a more stable future.
Both parties are bound by a gagging clause and they will share responsibility for bringing up the children.
For the prince, the prospect of becoming king is unaffected divorce is not a bar. His remarriage in a church in England is technically possible, despite the Church of England's policy not to conduct second marriages.
So far, however, he has indicated that he does not wish to remarry. That could mean an ongoing, unmarried, relationship with the now divorced Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles.