Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his girlfriend Heather Mills said yesterday they are to marry "some time next year".
McCartney (59) got down on one knee to propose to Ms Mills, a 33-year-old model and charity worker who lost part of her left leg in a road accident. The proposal was made during a short break in Britain's Lake District on Monday, his publicist said.
The singer and songwriter gave Ms Mills an Indian sapphire and diamond ring he bought in Jaipur during a holiday in January. The pair thanked their friends and relatives for all their great support.
McCartney has spoken of how his relationship with Ms Mills helped him overcome the pain of losing his wife, Linda, who died in April 1998 from breast cancer after a happy marriage of more than 30 years.
"Obviously, I'd been going through a hard time," he was quoted as saying last year. "Now I've got romance back in my life. I love her, and I get a lot of pleasure from that."
The two met at an awards ceremony, after which McCartney phoned Ms Mills on the pretext of discussing her anti-landmine charity.
"She came to the office to talk about the charity and I realised I fancied her," he said.
Ms Mills has campaigned for 10 years to rid to rid the world of landmines, and has her own charity, the Heather Mills Trust, which provides artificial limbs for mine victims.