Diane and Brian Pretty enjoyed ordinary domestic bliss - until a dreadful disease catapulted them into a high profile legal struggle for the right-to-die.

The couple had been happily married for 25 years with two children when their lives changed forever in November 1999 when Mrs Pretty was diagnosed with the degenerative condition motor neurone disease.

At every step of her fight for the right-to-die, Mr Pretty, 45, was at her side, pushing her wheelchair and providing much needed support.

As the couple faced the press after their last defeat in the European court, Mrs Pretty turned to her husband and whispered the words ''I love you'' - he silently mouthed back ''I love you too''.

Mr Pretty said in some respects he could not help being pleased to have a little longer with his wife, but he was saddened because he respected her wishes to want a dignified death.

An intensely private couple, they revealed little about their lives before Mrs Pretty's illness, preferring to focus all their efforts into promoting their landmark legal fight.

Their first trip abroad together was to Strasbourg - for their European court hearing.

At the time Mr Pretty said: ''It is very poignant. Our very first trip abroad is to come here to ask for Diane's right to die.''

On a web site set up with the help of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (www.justice4diane.org.uk), Mrs Pretty wrote a moving defence of her wish to die.

She said she wanted to die before she was unable to communicate with friends and family.

''I want to have a quick death without suffering, at home surrounded by my family so that I can say goodbye to them,'' the 43-year-old wrote.

In the end she died in a hospice, with her husband at her bedside, who said she was ''free at last''.

Mrs Pretty, whose illness left her paralysed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair, had waged a nine-month campaign for her husband to be guaranteed immunity from prosecution if he helped her die.

Suicide is legal, but helping someone else commit suicide is a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Mrs Pretty's lawyers had argued that the Government was violating her rights by refusing to rule out charges against her husband.

They argued that laws that prohibit aiding or abetting a suicide prevented Mrs Pretty from exercising her right, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. They also said it violated her right to respect for private and family life.

Mrs Pretty herself said she was trying to retain some control over what remained of her life.

''If I am allowed to decide when and how I die, I will feel that I have wrested some autonomy back and kept hold of my dignity,'' she said last November.

''That is how I want my family to remember me - as someone who respected the law and asked in turn that the law respected my rights.'' The courts, however, rejected her plea.

Josephine Quintavalle, spokeswoman for the Pro-Life Alliance, said the group hoped that Mrs Pretty's death was as peaceful as possible.

''A death is a moment of personal tragedy and we would wish to offer our sympathy to the family.

''We were never in opposition to Diane Pretty, we were against the danger of allowing a party to influence someone's death, and we have nothing but the greatest sympathy for her relatives.''

Andy Berry, spokesman for anti-euthanasia group Alert, said he was ''extremely saddened'' to hear about Mrs Pretty's death.

''With regards to the court case, that all disappears into the background at a time like this. At least being in a hospice she got some help and support at the end,'' Mr Berry said.

Solicitor Mona Arshi, from human rights group Liberty who represented Mrs Pretty in her legal battle, said: ''It was a privilege to know Diane.

''My thoughts are with Brian and the family, as we are sure are the thoughts of the many people who were touched by Diane's fight.''

Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies, who supported Mrs Pretty in her legal fight, said her life should be commemorated with an Act of Parliament creating a legal basis for assisted suicide.

The North West MEP said: ''Diane Pretty's courageous battle has highlighted the need for a long overdue reform of the law.

''People in her situation should have the right to choose for themselves to die with dignity and without suffering.''

He added: ''The Government should introduce legislation to provide for the rights of people suffering unbearable pain and distress with no hope of relief.''

The struggle to end her suffering.

* November 1999: Diane Pretty is diagnosed with motor neurone disease, a degenerative condition which has left her completely dependant on her family, though her intellect remains unaffected. Within four months she was confined to a wheelchair.

* June 2000: Mr Pretty writes to Tony Blair pleading for a change in the law.

l August 2001: Backed by the Voluntary Euthanasia Society and civil rights group, Liberty, Mrs Pretty applies to the Director of Public Prosecutions to grant her husband immunity from prosecution should he assist in her suicide. This was refused but the DPP acknowledged the family's ''terrible suffering''.

* August 31, 2001: A High Court judge grants Mrs Pretty the right to challenge the DPP's decision through the courts.

* October 10, 2001: Mrs Pretty sits at the front of the High Court in her wheelchair at the start of a two-day hearing to decide her future.

* October 18, 2001: Three High Court judges, headed by Lord Justice Tuckey, reject her plea saying democratic opinion on the subject of assisted suicide in this country is ''not ready for change''.

* November 14, 2001: Lawyers begin a race against time before five Law Lords in a bid to overturn the High Court ruling. This time, Mrs Pretty is too ill to attend the hearing.

* November 29, 2001: The Law Lords signal the end of her legal battle in this country when they too refuse her plea. But Mrs Pretty announces her intention to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg saying: ''We have lost the round but not the fight''.

* November 30, 2001: MPs sign an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for a change in the law ''to empower terminally-ill patients with the choice to die with dignity''.

* March 19, 2002: Mr and Mrs Pretty endure a 12-hour journey by ambulance to the European Court to hear lawyers argue her case for just 90 minutes before seven Human Rights judges.

* April 29, 2002: Human Rights judges in Strasbourg rejected the appeal. Afterwards, Mrs Pretty said: ''The law has taken all my rights away.''

* May 11, 2002: Diane Pretty dies.