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I always wonder about the girls (and boys) who are with a significant other for years and years without marrying, and then as soon as they break up, they jump into a new relationship and get engaged really quickly. So it is with Keira Knightley. She was with Rupert Friend for more than five years – they split up about a year and a half ago. Keira waited a hot minute, then jumped into a relationship with James Righton (some say there was overlap between James and Rupert). And now Keira and James are engaged! Congrats.
Actress Keira Knightley is engaged to marry her rocker boyfriend James Righton. The actress’s spokesperson confirmed she had accepted the Klaxons rocker’s proposal following a 15 month courtship. The London-born star, 27, started dating the 28-year-old keyboard player last year after being introduced by mutual friend Alexa Chung.
Knightley’s representative said: ‘I can confirm that Keira is engaged to be married to James Righton.’
But in keeping with the actress’ tightly-guarded privacy stance, the spokesperson declined to comment further. Since they started dating last year, the couple have kept their romance under wraps and are yet to pose together on a red carpet.
However, they have been photographed out together casually near their East London home several times. The Oscar-nominated star previously dated Pride & Prejudice co-star Rupert Friend for five years before splitting in January 2011.
Last year, her father William said on her split from Friend: ‘It wasn’t a decision that either of them took lightly. I know they gave it a great deal of thought. I don’t think there was any one thing that led to their break-up – it was a whole raft of things, I think.’
She also had a two-year romance with Irish model and actor Jamie Dornan before splitting in August 2005.
Righton is the keyboardist for London-based indie band Klaxons. The group won a Mercury Music Prize in 2007 for their debut album Myths Of The Near Future. The four-piece are currently working on a follow-up album to their last release Surfing The Void.
So did Keira want to marry Rupert and he just never got around to proposing, so Keira hit the road and found a dude who was the marrying kind? I have no idea. I had James pegged as Keira’s rebound after a long, marriage-like relationship with Rupert, so I’m surprised that they’re engaged now. Maybe it will be fine. Keira seems… more serious lately. Maybe she’s a “grown up” now. Maybe she sees all of her friends getting married (Carey Mulligan) and having babies (Sienna Miller) and she wants that life too.
PS… I still think Keira and Viggo Mortensen had an affair.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Written by Kaiser
Posted in Engagements, James Righton, Keira Knightley
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Maybe she didn’t want to marry Rupert and found someone she does want to marry.
Women in long-term relationships aren’t all sitting around waiting for proposals. Thinking like that paints women as desperate and men as emotionally unavailable. It’s not fair to anyone, really, and it’s not accurate.
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Second.
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Yay, thanks for this. I love this site but sometimes it’s like “seriously, are we still in the 50s??”
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+2
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Well said.
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agreed and if she wanted to marry, why not propose to the guy? its 2012 ffs.
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I agree. Also, Keira does not look like the type to wait in agony for a proposal that is not likely to come along. I may even see her politely declining Rupert’s offer.
Anyway, congrats to adorable Keira! I love her so much, I want her to be happy
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+1 well said
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I was really hoping she would get back with Rupert. Congrats, I guess.
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I don’t really have any strong feelings about Keira Knightley in general…congrats to her!
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He has the profile of a caveman in that last picture.
I love her–and I hope they are happy!
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Congratulations to Kiera!
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I’d have an affair with Viggo. That man is just transcendant.
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Oh my god, he was sooo handsome in Lord Of The Rings!
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team Viggo
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I would climb Viggo like a tree. That is all.
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I don’t know if she had an affair with Viggo. I think he’s just super affectionate, like he was with Kiki Dunst in Cannes.
But if Keira had hooked up with him, well, I can’t blame her.
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Let’s just hope Viggo didn’t go near Kiki. I don’t like her for some reason. I’m Keira neutral.
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Right on, Kiera, RIGHT ON! (ba-dum-tshhhh!)
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this made me laugh more than it should have.
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He’s just into her. Pure and Simple. And she’s grown up a bit. Is not as opposed to the concept of marriage. I think with Rupert, she was just too young to settle down, and he was more of a boring ‘father figure’ to her.
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So she found Mr. Right(on), eh? Good for her!
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she’d look so much more beautiful if she gained a tiny bit on her face
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maybe she’ll have a slice of wedding cake and gain an ounce
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Lainey claims they are really adorable and seem very content with one another. Good for them.
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I understand Keira. I dated a guy for four years and jumped out of the relationship when things were heading for marriage.
A month after that, I met someone else, fell in love and now, six months later, we got engaged.
I don’t know, it’s a weird situation. You wake up one day and everything just makes sense.
Congratulations to the beautiful couple,
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she looks so much like alexa chung if she goes without makeup. maybe it’s just the narrow/thin face and the haircut.
speaking of keira, i always love this part of the internetz:
http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.com/2011/11/books-vs-keira-knightley-part-iii.html
“In time, every woman in literature and history will have been played by Keira Knightley.”
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Well, I was with someone 11 years (off and on and off), totally didn’t want to marry him. Met my now husband & we were married within a year and 1/2. I knew it when I met him
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She is really beautiful when she does not do that ridiculous pout. Her skin looks amazing. Anyhoo, they look happy.
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Not a fan of Keira (she’s seems just as pretentious as her doppleganger Natalie P), but love the Klaxons.
Really surprised she and Friend never married but they kind of looked like brother and siter so maybe that’s a god thing. Didn’t her brother get married right when she broke up with Friend? Maybe that was a turning point.
But I’m with others, it is weird when someone marries their jump off. Maybe she didn’t want to marry Friend but I never got that impression. My guess is she wanted to marry him, he didn’t and she found someone that would [marry her].
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I love the Klaxons with all of my heart. I think it may be the only review I ever made on iTunes.
I find Keira to be anti-famewhore therefore I approve of this engagement.
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Is she getting younger? I swear I saw a story about her and it said she was 29 then next thing I see about her she’s 26, now 27. Maybe I’m just going crazy.
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She was 17 in 2002, so she would be 27 now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2002/nov/10/features.magazine
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this is a sad day indeed
why would she want to marry a silly looking thing like that? she’s too talented to waste her time on a guy who doesn’t look a day older than 12
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Congrats but I agree that this looks like a mismatch and a rushed decision made soon after the breakup of a long relationship. I don’t see this marriage lasting a long time at all.
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the day you stop being mega superficial you’ll maybe realize reasons why she wants to marry him.
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We make a lot of fun of lady gold-diggers here, but let’s also make some time for homely boys who start bands (a) cause they’re ok at music, (b) don’t want a real job, and (c) want to shag lots of girls and date starlets.
Besides being my pet theory, I remember Carl Barat’s interview where he talked about him and Pete Doherty joking about dating Kate Moss one day, and…
Let’s give it up for rock-boy star-daters!
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Well if you’re not going to Jennifer’s Body it into stardom you date a model or an actress. Eveyone knows that. Although the Klaxons weren’t exactly struggling…
Kate Moss is obviously the ideal goal for all rockers looking for that extra push (although Jamie Hince has gone down in my estimation since marrying her, which sucks because I love the Kills).
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It’s gone on for time immemorial. Honestly, they aren’t making them as hideous as they used to in the mysterious time before I was born.
No one as homely as Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger these days.
Although, this one does have a Gallagher mono-brow and the Gallaghers are the most hideous musicians of the modern era.
I don’t count Pete what’sit who did Kate Moss because no one in America would know who he was had he not bagged her.
I have heard of the Kills. And I am not sure that Pete is naturally hideous or drug induced hideous.
Oh wait… most hideous is not Mick and Steven. They are most hideous famous rockstars.
No one is more hideous than Shane McGowan. I don’t even remember what he sang. I know I liked it but I remember him for the disturbing level of FUG… he had stump teeth (is Shane still alive?).
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Zen, make up your mind. Who really is the most hideous rockstar?
Shane Macgowan’s got a new set of teefs. Not exactly new, he fixed got it fixed a few years ago.
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ROFL!!!! Love you Zen!!!
Here is my shameful confession. I love rock stars. If i had the money i would be a total groupie – drat my mother and her imputing sensible ideas in my head like having a job and paying my bills and not Penny laning it.
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Maybe the reason Kiera and Rupurt broke up is because one of them decided to eat something.I mean, towards the end of their relationship they both looked emancipated. My other theory is she wants to be married to a hipster musician like Carey. It is all the rage right now.
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Tiffany, your typo is beyond genius.
They book were looking emancipated. I LOVE it when people get that look of liberation about them!
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I was with my ex for 8 years and never even had any interest in getting married and then met my now husband and we were engaged and married within 6 months and have now been married for 2 years and still going strong. When you know, you know, and you don’t need to bother wasting time waiting around.
As for Keira well I haven’t seen her in anything for ages and never was a big fan but congrats. Hope she makes it to the wedding. Engagements in hollywood aren’t really anything to get too excited about since they don’t usually last.
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@Listerno – I know what you mean, me too, dated at guy for 6 years, had no interest in marrying him. He was seriously depressed and the relationship wasn’t healthy broke up with him and met someone 2 weeks later and was married with in 5 months and 6 years 2 step-daughters and one baby together and still going strong. I think when you spend a long time in a relashionship you learn a lot and it doesn’t take that long the second time around to know what you want.
I like Keira Knightly though can’t figure out why she is with the loser guy. He looks like the British version of Perez Hilton. Yuck. She is so gorgeous and am jealous if she got to hook up with Viggo Mortenson he is so hot and so manly unlike most of hollywood men. I could never get into her with Rupert Friend, all I could see was wickham, why the heck would anyone want to date Wickham when there is Darcy to be had.
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Awesome, congrats!!
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WOAH WOAH, affair with Viggo? Anyone know the deets about that?!
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I like her alot
Hope she’s happy!
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How did Keira and Viggo have an “affair”? They are both single. Perhaps they had a liaison?
And yes, more deets!
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Ughhh engagements these days doesn’t mean anything. They get engaged and end up breaking it off…or end up getting married and then divorced. It didn’t start out the right way (overlap in two relationships) so i don’t think it is going to last.
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Love her. she has amazing skin
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