Ladies and gents, be forewarned: it may just be time to purchase a far-too-fancy hat and dust off your best frock or shiny suit… and stalk your postman for your bound-to-need-signing-for invitation! For power couple extraordinaire Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have put (an engagement) ring on it. That’s right, the golden couple of the silver screen have confirmed that they are, seven years and six children later, engaged to be married.
Oh, and that loud cracking sound you hear? Why, it is in fact the (perhaps somewhat familiar) sound of the cumulative cracking of a million breaking hearts; a sound not so universally apparent since Johnny Depp, spiritual captain of our hearts and guyliner-wearer extraordinaire, decided to set up shop with one Ms. Paradis. Fear not though, lads and lassies (let’s face it, if you don’t fancy one of them, it is highly probable that you have a lusty yearning for the other, regardless of your sex), if we can cope with Mr. Depp going all domesticated daddy and devoted (common-law) hubby on us, we can surely weather this celebrity couple’s commitment to forever-coupling.
In a statement issued by Pitt’s manager, Cynthia Pett-Dante, we are told,
“Yes, it’s confirmed. It is a promise for the future and their kids are very happy. There’s no date set at this time. Brad designed the ring.”
This statement follows frenzied speculation on the interwebs after Angie was both spotted and photographed on Wednesday night at an L.A. museum with an ever-so-expensive and unmistakably luxe looking, hunk (to put it frankly) of rock adorning that finger. Cue said frenzy of speculation.
While confirmation of this major slice of breaking news in the business of show is hot off the presses, seasoned gossip watchers initially had their suspicions piqued when, earlier today, Beverly Hills jeweller, Robert Procop, was the first person to (unofficially) confirm the rumours, stating via a rep that,
“I can confirm that, yes, Robert Procop did indeed design an engagement ring for Angelina Jolie, designed in collaboration with Brad Pitt.”
While some may have been loathe to believe such claims, Procop is not simply a run of the mill diamonds and gold man — he’s got form. Not only is he the former CEO of uber posh Asprey and Gerrard; but he has also collaborated with Angelina Jolie on a jewellery collection entitled “The Style of Jolie“. The Oscar winning star has been spotted donning his jewels at a number of high profile red carpet events, while Procop was also the creative mind behind pieces of jewellery worn by Angelina during her stint as Elise Clifton-Ward in The Tourist.
According to the (veritable Pitt/Jolie in-house) jeweller, whose star is surely set to go stratospheric in light of Angelina’s most precious and prominent gift of jewellery to date, Brad “had a specific vision for this ring”, which was “realized over a year-long collaboration”, and “wanted every aspect of it to be perfect”. All together now, aww!!!
Procop goes on to describe the diamond sparkler in dramatic detail, emphasizing the not-merely-made-to-measure, beautifully bespoke quality and design of the ring that the future Mrs. Pitt is bound to treasure for a lifetime. The jeweller stated that he “locate[d] a diamond of the finest quality and cut it to an exact custom size and shape to suit Angelina’s hand”, and that “the side diamonds are specially cut to encircle her finger. Each diamond is of the highest gem quality”. He also tells us that “Brad was always heavily involved, overseeing every aspect of the creative design evolution”. Lucky gal!
Of course, this won’t be the first trip down the aisle for either Jolie, 36, or Pitt, 48. Jolie, who was previously married to Brit actor Johnny Lee Miller from 1996 – 1999, famously sported the gothic married person’s equivalent of teenage ‘Best Friends Forever’ matching necklaces in the form of matching vials of (their other half’s) blood dangling from their respective necks with second husband, Billy Bob Thornton. Pitt was, of course, married to Jennifer Aniston from 2000 – 2005, the actress best known as the star of everyone’s favourite all-but-guaranteed-to-cheer-you-up-no-matter-how-bad-the-hangover, will-forever-keep-her-in-designer-threads-on-the-back-of-the-residual-fees-alone, and forever favourite, Friends.
While the pair have yet to set a date for their impending nuptials, this marriage of bona fide Hollywood royalty may not be as far off on the horizon as it once appeared. In 2006, Brad, in a headlines-worldwide-making declaration, told Esquire magazine that he and Jolie would only wed when “everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able”. However, in a sort of about-turn, he made reference to that statement this year by saying,
“We made this declaration some time ago that we weren’t going to do it till everyone can. But I don’t think we’ll be able to hold out. It means so much to my kids, and they ask a lot. And it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment”.
However, he also backed up his previous statement by saying, in that breath, “But to be in love with someone and be raising a family with someone and want to make that commitment and not be able to is ludicrous, just ludicrous”
While we may be waiting a while before we are treated to the snaps of the future Mr. and Mrs. Pitt walking down the aisle – this proposal was only, what, seven years in the making (?!) — or, to be lucky enough (and having hassled your respective postie continuously to deliver your hallowed invite), to see the superstar spectacle in the flesh, in the meantime, you can ogle pics of the lovely Angelina and Brad, as man and wife (albeit in an acting capacity), and imagine what it would be like to married to the half of the pair who is the respective object of your lusty, crush-y ways, in their first joint film together, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, congrats, Angelina and Brad. Meanwhile, I’ll be taking up residence next to my letter box, waiting patiently for my embossed, hallowed invite, and (kindly) harassing my (possibly not so much by the time this wedding rolls around) friendly local postman. Postie, you have been warned.
This was originally published on April 15 2012, and can be seen in edited form here.
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Images: Wikimedia Commons
April Barry 