24 May 2000
Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant split up

A spokeswoman for celebrity couple Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant announces they have broken off their 13-year relationship. The break-up is said to be "amicable" and "temporary".

October 2000
Liz Hurley and Steve Bing go public with their relationship

Liz Hurley and Steve Bing are pictured kissing at an Elton John concert at New York's Madison Square Garden after having met in the US.

8 November 2001
Liz Hurley announces she is pregnant

The actress announces she is expecting her first child in April. Steve Bing is said to be the father.

The pair had already split before the announcement after 18 months together. He becomes involved with bit-part actress Brenda Swanson.

4 December 2001
Steve Bing says he and Liz Hurley had not had an "exclusive" relationship

Steve Bing issues a statement saying it was her "choice to be a single mother" after newspaper reports said he ended his relationship with Hurley because he was seeing another woman, and that the actress faces a court battle with him to obtain child support.

He adds that if the child is his, he will be an "extremely involved and responsible parent". Hurley is "deeply distraught" at the implication she had other lovers.

6 January 2002
Steve Bing sues the Daily Mirror over "hate" campaign

Bing sues the tabloid for $10m (£6.9m) for printing his phone number and urging readers to ring him after the paper launched a Hunt for Bing campaign - dubbing him Bing Laden - for "crimes against Hurley".

4 April 2002
Liz Hurley gives birth

Damian Charles arrives and he and his mother are said by Hurley spokeswoman to be "happy and healthy".

19 April 2002
Steve Bing launches paternity case

Steve Bing issues proceedings in the Family Division of the High Court to establish if he is the father of her baby. Liz Hurley says she is "extremely distressed" and finds the action "astonishing".

May 2002
Bing takes DNA test

Bing flies into London to take a DNA test to prove whether he is the father.

23 May 2002
Press complaint thrown out

Press Complaints Commission rejects Bing's accusations against the Mirror that it it invaded his privacy by printing his office phone number. It concluded the number was already widely available to the public.

19 June 2002
Steve Bing proved to be the father

DNA tests show Steve Bing is the father of Liz Hurley's son.

He will be expected to live up to his earlier promise to "generously support" the baby.