Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will marry later this month. The Hollywood couple is reportedly planning to tie the knot in a "simple outdoor ceremony" with their friends and family present.

A friend of the pair said: "Angelina and Brad aren't going to do a lot of planning. It will just be a simple outdoor ceremony at Villa Maryland, the home of Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, in France, where they have been staying while they are house-hunting in the region."

"Angelina wants all the children - Maddox, six, four-year-old Pax, three-year-old Zahara and two-year-old Shiloh - to participate in a celebration of their family. The kids will be central to the blessing. Maddox and Pax have contributed to the vows as well."

Brad's parents - who flew to France earlier this week, again suggesting the couple are planning to marry soon - are said to be "thrilled" Angelina has finally agreed to marry their son.

A source told Britain's Grazia magazine: "Brad's parents are thrilled that she has come round to the idea of a wedding. It took a long time for them to accept Angelina, and she hated that people saw her as the one who stole him from Jennifer Aniston, but all that is ancient history now she's prepared to take the next step."

Angelina is said to be planning to give birth in France, as a tribute to her late French-Canadian mother Marcheline Bertrand.