A RING FOR TAYLOR
An all-grown-up Taylor Swift finds joy, confidence and lowmaintenance love with boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Next up? A ring!
Inside Taylor Swift’s relationship with Joe Alwyn — and how a ring is not too far off in their future.
There are no more teardrops on her guitar. She no longer gets drunk on jealousy. And she certainly isn’t lying on the cold, hard ground. Ahead of her 30th birthday later this year, Taylor Swift recently shared with Elle 30 life lessons she’s learned. And — spoiler alert! — the woman known for rushing into romance and then writing songs about her exes wants fans to know those days are long gone. “Before you jump in headfirst, maybe, I don’t know… get to know someone!” she advises. “What I know now to be more valuable about a person isn’t their charming routine upon meeting them… but the layers of a person you discover in time. Are they honest, self-aware and slyly funny at the moments you least expect it? Do they show up for you when you need them? Do they still love you after they’ve seen you broken?”
For Taylor, the answer to those questions is a resounding “yes” on all counts. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the older, wiser — and totally smitten — Taylor Swift.
The woman who declared, “Love’s a game, wanna play?” in her 2014 smash “Blank Space,” and cavorted publicly with boyfriends Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Hiddleston, has shunned the spotlight in favor of a quiet romance with Mary Queen
of Scots star Joe Alwyn, 28. And sources tell Us that an engagement isn’t a matter of if, but when.
“They’ve never been happier,” says a source. “Joe wants to marry her, and she wants to marry him. They’re in a great place as a couple… He’s just waiting to find the perfect time to propose.”
LONDON CALLING
The way things have progressed for the pop star and the actor, it likely won’t be long. Taylor quickly fell for the baby-faced Brit after they were introduced, purportedly at a Kings of Leon concert in late 2016. (Another sign Taylor has changed: She’s spoken so little of her two-year romance with Joe, it’s not entirely clear how exactly they met!) As they became serious, Nashville- and NYC-based Taylor made the decision to relocate across the pond. “Joe’s really showed her a different lifestyle and the value of privacy,” a second source told Us in 2018.
Taylor’s thrived out of the spotlight. “They have chefs, but they’ll also cook together,” the source says of low-key nights at home. And when they do venture out, they keep things mellow at Joe’s favorite London pubs. As he himself told British Vogue last year, “we’ve been successfully very private.”
Away from the cameras and attention, Taylor hasn’t needed to try and impress the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama graduate. “She finds Joe to be one of the coolest guys ever, someone she can just be open and herself with, and that’s something she really values and appreciates,” says the source. “Taylor likes that Joe doesn’t care about being in the spotlight — that’s never his goal. He’s extremely chill and laid-back, and unconditionally supports her.” Also supportive? Both their families. “Her parents love Joe, and his family adores her,” says a friend. “So the two have everyone’s blessing.
That healthy dynamic is a far cry from what she found in her previous romances. In the past, the 10-time Grammy winner — who wrote the lyrics “Find out what you want/Be that girl for a month” — would mold herself to fit the image of the guy she was seeing at the time. Case in point: In 2012, when she began dating Kennedy family scion Connor Kennedy, she played up a preppy New England style and plunked
down nearly $5 million on a Hyannis Port, Mass., mansion within walking distance of the famed Kennedy compound.
Taylor, who opened up in her Elle essay about banishing drama — she’s clashed with everyone from exes like Calvin Harris to fellow celebs like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (see box, below) — has nurtured a surprisingly drama-free love with Joe. “Taylor’s had her share of romances and her share of heartbreaks,” says an insider. “But she’s never fallen for anyone like she fell for Joe.” One of the only things she might not be getting from him: Answers about exactly when he plans to ask her to make it official. Says the source, “He wants to make it unforgettable and extremely special.” Not that they’ve tiptoed around the subject of a future together. “Joe and Taylor have spoken about marriage a lot,” says the friend, including her preferences when it comes to bling. “Taylor isn’t interested in a big, obnoxious ring. She’d like something elegant and simple.”
IN IT FOR KEEPS
Simplicity is the name of the game these days for Taylor, who reveals in her Elle essay that she’s learned the value of being up-front and honest. “Playing mind games is for the chase,” she writes. “In a real relationship or friendship, you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t tell the other person how you feel, and what could be done to fix it. No one is a mind reader. If someone really loves you, they want you to verbalize how you feel. This is real life, not chess.”
With no room in her life for mind games, Taylor is left to work on her music, enjoy her first real grown-up romance and prepare for the future. “All that’s left is for Joe to pop the question,” says the friend, “and Taylor, who’s been collecting bridal magazines since she was a little girl, can finally get down to the business of planning a wedding.”
At this point, the megastar’s squad members are practically placing bets on when an engagement will happen. “Taylor’s friends are all talking about a proposal and how she really wants to marry Joe,” says the insider. “He’s her dream guy.”