Benedict Cumberbatch is engaged - and women everywhere should rejoice

Much like when Kennedy was assassinated, the Berlin Wall came down, or Nixon resigned, in years to come everyone will remember exactly where they were on this fateful morning, when the skies filled with the agonized wails of the broken-hearted and the news broke that Benedict Cumberbatch was engaged to marry Sophie Hunter, a 36-year-old theatre director.

And as if mankind needed any more reasons to desperately fancy the man who made Sherlock sexy (and it definitely, absolutely didn’t), Cumberbatch announced his forthcoming nuptials in the coolest, suavest and most infuriatingly nonchalant way possible, with an understated notice appearing in the Births, Marriages and Deaths column of The Times.

There it was, in brutal black-and-white, the words that would destroy the dreams of millions: “The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London.”

At first, it was widely assumed that the announcement concerned a different Benedict Cumberbatch, another chap who had nervously got down on bended knee, who also just happened to have parents called Wanda and Timothy. It’s not as if Cumberbatch is that uncommon a surname…is it? There must be loads of other amusingly-titled men knocking about the country. Masses of them! Thousands! Perhaps it was all just a funny coincidence, which would soon be ironed out. We’d be over it by lunch, all share a jolly good laugh, and I could spend another productive afternoon doodling ‘Ben <3 Lucy’ across my notepad.

But laugh we did not, and today my paper will be stained only with bitter tears. “I am delighted to confirm this morning’s announcement that Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are engaged" said his spokesman, as life as we knew it changed, for ever.

If this near-universal feeling of desolation and anguish feels horribly familiar, it’s because it is only a matter of weeks since we had to watch George Clooney whizzing down a Venetian canal staring adoringly at his new wife, the hotshot human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, who is currently fighting for the return of the Elgin Marbles.

But perhaps in both cases the situation is, in fact, far more uplifting that it first appears. For just like Clooney, Cumberbatch has fallen for a woman who is, well, pretty darn excellent. His fiancée is a bilingual Oxford graduate, actress and award-winning director, who runs four – yes, four – theatre companies.

There’s something quite reassuring about these extraordinarily successful and eligible men choosing to marry women who are, frankly, just as successful and eligible as they are. Even Clooney joked that he was 'marrying up'. It makes a refreshing change from the tedious stream of pretty-faced actors getting dewy eyed over even prettier-faced supermodels, who appear to have little to say for themselves. Instead, these men seem to find ambition sexy, and want to spend their lives with a smart, successful woman who they consider their equal, intellectually as well as aesthetically. And hurrah for that.

So – with a heavy-heart and through gritted teeth – congratulations Ben and Sophie!