Giuliani set to marry

Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani has popped the question, asking companion Judith Nathan to marry him during a recent business trip to Paris.

Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for Giuliani said he proposed to Nathan, his companion of more than two years, on November 24. Mindel declined to discuss details about the proposal or to disclose when and where the wedding would take place.

An unnamed source described the couple as “ecstatic” and said Giuliani, who was catapulted into the world spotlight after the September 11 terror attacks in 2001, gave Nathan an oval Ceylon sapphire, set in platinum and surrounded by 10 diamonds, The New York Times reported today.

In October, father-of-two Giuliani said on CNN’s Larry King Live that he planned to marry Nathan “soon”. The privacy-minded Giuliani said the couple intended to remain secretive about where and when the wedding would be held.

The proposal came five months after the 58-year-old finalised his divorce from Donna Hanover after 20 years of marriage.

Nathan a registered nurse, divorced wallpaper salesman Bruce Nathan in 1992. The two have a teenage daughter.

Giuliani and Nathan began appearing in public together more than two years ago, at which time the ex-mayor referred to her as “a very good friend”.