Let Harry organise Prince William's stag do - Twitter reacts

In a sign of the times, the British Monarchy made the most of social media to break the news of Prince William and Kate Middleton's engagement to followers of the royal family overnight.

The announcement was "tweeted" by the British Monarchy and Clarence House's twitter accounts about 12am New Zealand time.

"The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton," the message read.

The official press notice was also posted on the British Monarchy's new Facebook page.

Photos of the pair at their photocall at St James' Palace on the day of the announcement were uploaded on to the Clarence's House's twitpic and flickr pages.

Details of the engagement were also posted on Prince William's website.

Following the announcement, twitter users posted their congratulations and thoughts on the engagement, using the hashtag royalwedding.

"royalwedding is going to be the wedding of the century :) what a lucky girl she's going to have the wedding of her dreams," danibusta posted.

"Looking forward to buying a new tea towel, plate and mug very soon," SlinkyLynne said.

Some were concerned about the cost of the wedding for taxpayers, particularly in the current economic climate.

"[I] think it's about time the Royal Family start paying for their own events like the rest of the British population," Tom_Earnshaw.

Many were hoping to receive invites to the big day, while some were more concerned about William's stag do.

"Please, please, PLEASE let Harry be in charge of the stag do," fleetstreetfox said.