Heartbreak for BBC Business Editor Robert Peston as his wife Sian dies aged 51 after long battle with lung cancer

• Novelist Sian Busby was diagnosed with lung cancer nearly five years ago
• Mr Peston devoted to his wife, who he had a brief relationship with before they met again years later

The wife of the BBC's Business Editor Robert Peston has died after a long battle with lung cancer.
The corporation today confirmed the passing of Sian Busby, 51, whom the 52-year-old reporter had met while he was at school.
A note on his popular BBC blog read: 'It is with great sadness that we can confirm that Robert Peston's beloved wife Sian Busby has passed away after a long illness.
'Our thoughts are with him and his family at this tragic time.

Robert Peston with his beloved wife Sian Busby, who has passed away after a long battle with lung cancer

'Robert will take a short leave of absence from the BBC to return at a later date. We ask that you respect his and his family’s privacy at this difficult time.'
She died in a hospice surrounded by her family.
Ms Busby, a novelist, met Mr Peston when they were teenagers and they had a brief relationship, only to get back together years later.

Mr Peston was besotted with his wife, telling The Daily Telegraph that the definition of love was: 'How I feel about my wife.'
In an interview with the same paper, she described the 'scary' moment she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Sian Busby, 51, who was acclaimed for her fiction and non-fiction, was diagnosed with cancer nearly five years ago. Above, two of her novels

Ms Busby, who was acclaimed for her fiction and non-fiction, was diagnosed with lung cancer nearly five years ago.
Her first novel was the historical thriller McNaughten, set during the early Victorian era, in which a zealot tries to assassinate the unpopular prime minister, Sir Robert Peel.
Her second book, The Cruel Mother, dealt with issues including infanticide and post-natal depression.
The novelist was a schoolfriend of Mr Peston's younger sister Juliet and the pair began dating when they were studying at different universities, although it was only a brief affair and ended when he took a posting in Brussels.

Robert Peston, the BBC's Business Editor, said the definition of love was how he felt about his wife

She said that she thought Mr Peston, who was in the year above her, was 'dishy' and told friends that she thought their relationship could be reignited.
They later rekindled their relationship in the mid 1990s after her first marriage - from which she has a son Simon - ended.
She told an interviewer in 2009 how they were brought back together when Mr Peston's sister was seriously injured in a road accident and suffered memory loss.
She said: 'I started going to see her with photographs to talk about our school days and help her piece her memory back together.
'Robert was often there at the same time, but I was feeling so low that I didn't think he - so handsome, so successful - could possibly be interested in me.'
Mr Peston, from Marylebone, London, married his Islington-born wife in Westminster in 1998. They have two sons.
Financial Times journalist Ben Fenton offered his condolences for the Peston family on Twitter.
He wrote: 'Sincere condolences to Robert Peston on the death of his wife Sian Busby. A lovely woman. Thoughts with him and his family.'
Mr Peston's BBC business colleague Nkem Ifejika said: 'Our esteemed colleague, Robert Peston lost his wife, Sian Busby, last night. We pray comfort for him and the boys.'
Ms Busby told The Daily Telegraph that she would always have dinner waiting on the table for her 'workaholic' husband - even if it did mean it went cold as Mr Peston rarely returned to their north London home before 9pm.
Mr Peston worked as a journalist on newspapers including the Financial Times and Sunday Telegraph before joining the BBC.
She recently inadvertently featured on one of her husband's radio interviews when she was overheard by millions of listeners repeatedly shouting goodbye to him while he was on the phone to the studio.
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK, with more than 38,000 people diagnosed each year.

Blog entry: The message posted on the journalist's popular BBC blog today