Eight lines have broken many hearts.Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch and theatre director Sophie Hunter announced their engagement Wednesday, making the news public with a minuscule eight-line announcement on the births, deaths and marriages page of The Times newspaper in London.

Britain Cumberbatch

A photo of the forthcoming marriages section of The Times newspaper shows the announcement. (The Associated Press)

Cumberbatch's spokeswoman, Karon Maskill, confirmed the engagement.

The announcement comes only weeks after another eligible bachelor tied the knot. Hollywood star, George Clooney, married human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin.

The 38-year-old Cumberbatch became a global star with his modern-day portrayal of the cerebral sleuth, and is being praised for his role as code-breaking genius Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. Turing's work cracking German codes helped win World War II, but he was later prosecuted for homosexuality and committed suicide.

Hunter, 36, is known for directing avant-garde plays, including a puppet version of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition. She studied theatre in Paris and New York and has appeared as an actor in films including the 2004 adaptation of Vanity Fair starring Reese Witherspoon.

She and Cumberbatch appeared together in the 2009 thriller Burlesque Fairytales.