Hugh Grant Engaged?

Originally posted Saturday June 10, 2006 06:00 AM EDT

Photo by: Steph / Haedrich / Visual / ZUMA

What? No flip comment? No cheeky response followed by that devilish grin? Nope – mum’s the word for Hugh Grant when it comes to whether he’s now engaged to girlfriend of two years Jemima Khan.

In a story published Monday in Britain’s Daily Mail, columnist Richard Kay reported that Grant got down on one knee on a trip to Barbados six months ago.

"It's one of the best-kept secrets of the celebrity world," he wrote. Sure is. The couple’s reps refuse any comment, and friends and family maintain they either don't know or won’t say.

Engaged or not, the longtime bachelor, 45, and his lady, 32, seem quite smitten. "They get along marvelously," says a Khan pal, dismissing other recent rumors claiming a rift.

Hugh Grant and Jemima Khan at a friend's wedding in September 2000. Photo by: BAUER-GRIFFIN

Formerly married to Pakistani cricket-champ-turned-politician Imran Khan, Jemima, a mother of two (sons Sulaiman, 9, and Kasim, 7), comes from one of Britain's wealthiest families. Her billionaire financier father, Sir James Goldsmith, died in 1997, the same year as her good friend Princess Diana.

In the last month Grant and Khan have been spotted snogging everywhere from Venice to New York City, where a ringless Khan shopped on June 5.

Their chemistry isn’t just physical, either. "He’s very clever, and she really is funny, witty and quick," says her friend. "They spark off each other perfectly."