Andie MacDowell has never looked more beautiful than she does today. Almost two years after she ended her long marriage to former model Paul Qualley, the Four Weddings And A Funeral star is set to become a bride again.

Earlier this summer she became engaged to jewellery businessman Rhett Hartzog, a childhood friend from her schooldays in Gaffney, South Carolina. Rhett proposed in July, presenting her with a platinum-and-diamond solitaire ring. They plan to marry in Asheville, North Carolina, where the actress now live with her children Justin, 14, Rainey, 12, and Sarah Margaret, six.

Andie always put her family responsibilities before her film career and insists she has no regrets. “I willingly devoted myself to my children and to my husband. I come from a broken home, and I decided a long time ago that I would put my family ahead of everything.”

She admits however, that the end of her marriage to Paul Qualley was “a long time in coming”. “I think I stayed in the marriage a few years to long,” says Andie. “Every woman goes through a lot of agony before she decides in favour of her own happiness or that of her children.”

To read the full interview with Andie MacDowell as she prepares for her wedding to childhood friend Rhett Hartzog, see this week’s HELLO! magazine, on sale now.