'I couldn't believe it' - delight for university student as boyfriend proposes at graduation ceremony

It was already the happiest day of Lucie Simon's life as she graduated from the University of Sunderland after three years of studying.

But it got even better for delighted Lucie when her graduation day brought with it an extra surprise - when her boyfriend Zac Kelsey went down on bended knee and asked her to marry him.

Lucie, 22, from Hartlepool, was graduating in front of family and friends after three years studying Fashion Journalism at the University.

Following the ceremony at the Stadium of Light, the family, including Lucie's boyfriend Zac, 22, who is also from Hartlepool, went out for a meal.

Lucie said: "Afterwards we went outside for a drink and that was when he proposed, I couldn't believe it.

"It was an incredible day, graduating after three years of work and then getting engaged on the same day."

Zac, who works for a brick specialist company, had planned the proposal and even mentioned it to Lucie's parents, Stephanie and Neil, months earlier.

Lucie, who is currently on a digital marketing internship in Sunderland City Centre, is still coming to terms with the news.

She said: "We have been going out together for five years and we'd joked about getting engaged, but I wasn't expecting it.

"I was shaking when he did it."

The couple are now planning to move in together before they set a date for the wedding.

Lucie was one of hundreds of students who graduated from the University of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this week.