Angelina Jolie cried when Brad Pitt proposed to her. The Moneyball actor spent a year designing the perfect engagement ring for his partner and when he gathered the rest of their family - children Maddox, 10, Pax, eight, Zahara, seven, Shiloh, five, and three-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox - to present it, she was overwhelmed by the gesture.

"Angelina cried and smiled," a source told US Weekly.

The ring was made by jeweler Robert Procop and the tablet-shaped diamond engagement piece is estimated to be worth $500,000.

The children were also overjoyed with Brad's proposal, after seven years together, with the source adding, "Everyone hugged once she put the ring on. She went around and showed it to each of the kids. Angie considers herself bonded to Brad for life."

Brad, 48, has previously said the couple were being put under pressure to marry by their children. "The kids ask about marriage. It's meaning more and more to them. So it's something we've got to look at," he said in May last year.

It is believed Brad's proposal was made at Christmas time, but he and Angelina, 36, have kept it quiet until now so the news would not overshadow her promoting directorial debut film In the Land of Blood and Honey: "She was very busy with the movie and her Oscar campaign. She also worried that the engagement would take over press on her film and detract from that."

No date or location for the wedding have been revealed.