Geldof to marry Marine after 'hell' of Peaches' death

Bob Geldof has proposed to longterm girlfriend Jeanne Marine after 18 years together.

The couple hopes the happy news will give their family something to focus on following the tragic death of his daughter Peaches last month. An inquest into Peaches' death opens this afternoon.

Jeanne's friend Jerry Hall told the Daily Mail newspaper: "Bob has proposed. She is over the moon. Jeanne Marine has been a rock and a tower of strength over this. I'm so excited for her I am bursting to tell someone.

"Bob and Jeanne have been through hell, but they are determined something positive will come out of it. After all the sadness, we need something to focus on which will bring joy and light."

Jeanne revealed her happy news to Jerry when the Texan model returned to the UK for Peaches' recent funeral.

She added: "I've just got back from Texas and accompanied Jeanne to the funeral. It was, of course, terribly sad, but she told me that Bob had asked her to marry him out of the blue. I'm so happy for her. It makes you realise we all have to value what we have."

Bob, 62, began dating 49-year-old Jeanne after meeting at a dinner party in Paris, where he had fled to after his divorce from Paula Yates - the mother of his children Fifi, 31, Peaches, and Pixie, 23 - in 1996.

Paula died of a heroin overdose four years later, and Geldof took on the care of her and the late Michael Hutchence's daughter Tiger, now 17.