Billie Lourd is engaged! “She said YES!! (Actually, she said ‘Duhhhh’),” Austen Rydell, 28, captioned the June 25 Instagram post announcing his engagement to Billie, 27. “But I guess that’s even better than yes?!?” he added. With the announcement, Austen shared a slideshow of pics taken from his romance with the daughter of the late Carrie Fisher. It was a romantic trip down memory lane, with pics of them packing on the PDA at an outdoor festival, having a picnic in a park, taking a walk near some train tracks (while wearing facemasks), vacationing on a tropical island, and — finally — having a private, romantic kiss.
This engagement was a long time in the making. Austen and Billie dated for a time when they were younger. After a few years apart, they reconnected in October 2017, right after she and Taylor Lautner called it quits. From there, it just worked. He was seen accompanying Billie on a family trip to Norway on the first anniversary of the death of her mother, Carrie Fisher, and since then, he’s been her rock. In February 2020, he penned a sweet tribute to her in honor of Valentine’s Day. “I found the best girl in the world. Happy Valentines Day to us!! We’re hangin with the redwoods today,” he captioned a shot of them together.
Billie — who told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that she and Austen were going to celebrate Valentine’s Day by “going on a road trip, just keeping it classy” — also took a moment to celebrate her love online. She posted a series of photos of her with Austen. “All ’round the world you make my world go ’round,” she captioned the gallery.
Before this official engagement, Austen and Billie had a bit of a “marriage scare.” In November 2019, she uploaded a picture of her and Austen at Disneyland. “TFW its #way2damnearly4holidaypics, but you love twinkly lights/matching plaid / @disneyland so much that you can’t resist #sorryimsorry,” she captioned the shot. Fans were less concerned with the plaid jackets and more with the white bow in her hair. It looked like a wedding veil, prompting many to ask, “did she get married?” Obviously, they did not, but now, they can have their “happily ever after” for real this time. Congratulations!