Prince Charming pops question in assembly

Alex Hyde has been reading happily-ever-after stories to the children of Newbridge Preparatory School for more than 20 years.

But the nursery nurse has now bagged her own Prince Charming after boyfriend Bob Doyle made a surprise proposal in front of the entire school.

The bus driver spent two months making a video proposal which was then broadcast to all of the children and staff in a special assembly yesterday.

Miss Hyde, who was also celebrating her 38th birthday, watched in shock as she saw her partner of 12 months singing along to Bruno Mars's Marry You on the screen.

The pupils and staff then erupted into cheers and applause as 49-year-old Mr Doyle entered the hall and escorted his soon-to-be fiancee to the stage, where he got down on one knee and popped the question – to which the answer was a resounding "yes".

"I was watching the screen thinking 'that looks a bit like Bob'," said Miss Hyde, of Perton. "It took me a few seconds to realise what was going on – I was in complete shock."

The three-minute video showed Mr Doyle, who is also a part-time magician, miming the lyrics of the song in various locations across Bournemouth.

"That's our favourite song and I always tease him by singing it," she said. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had no idea."

The couple fell in love during a holiday romance in Paignton and Mr Doyle moved up to Perton in December.

"I made the decision to propose a few months back and it took me two months in total to do the video," said Mr Doyle. "I filmed and edited it all myself. During one scene, I was singing on the beach and I was getting more than a few funny looks from people passing by. But it was all worth it to see Alex's reaction.

"Marry You is our song, we always sing it when we're doing the washing up, so I knew I wanted to do that. And I knew Alex was working on her birthday so that's how the school thing came about."

Barely a soul at the Newbridge Crescent school knew about the proposal. But those in the know ensured everyone was looking their best by staging an impromptu dress-up day. After accepting the proposal, pupils threw confetti over the happy couple and a veil from the pupils' dressing up box was quickly placed on top of Miss Hyde's head.

Mr Doyle had also arranged for his partner's mother Diane to attend the special day. "I thought I was getting dressed up to go for a birthday meal," said Mrs Hyde, of Newhampton Road West. "I had no idea he was going to do this but we are all so happy. I'm so pleased and I can't believe he has done all of this. Alex's father Adrian, brother Aron and sister Emma will be over the moon. We had no idea he was going to propose."

The couple will begin planning their wedding after a cruise holiday in June to celebrate Mr Doyle's 50th birthday.

Miss Hyde said it had been a "fantastic day". She said: "It was so lovely that all my colleagues and friends were involved. I've been here since I was 16 so this school means so much to me. I've taught these pupils since they were tiny tots so it was lovely that they were all there too.

"The staff got me a birthday card with me dressed a princess on the front and Bob was inside dressed as Prince Charming.

"There has been a long-running joke among us about when I'm going to find my own Prince Charming – but it looks like this was the day."