John Edwards Has Proposed to Rielle Hunter, National Enquirer Says

John Edwards has proposed to his mistress Rielle Hunter, The National Enquirer reported Thursday.

A source told the tabloid that the disgraced former senator asked Hunter to marry him shortly after issuing a statement last year admitting that he was the father of her daughter, Frances Quinn.

However, the Daily Beast reported Friday that an Edwards spokeswoman has denied the Enquirer report.

Edwards, a one-time presidential candidate, "is buying a luxury $3.5 million beachfront home where they can live happily ever after with their love child," the Enquirer said.

The couple will wed this summer, according to the tabloid.

It was the Enquirer that first broke the story of the affair between Edwards and Hunter, who worked on his presidential campaign. The Huffington Post pointed out that while the Enquirer accurately reported the romance, the publication posted a nearly identical story last year about a planned Edwards-Hunter wedding -- which was later denied.

Edwards' wife, Elizabeth Edwards, died of breast cancer on Dec. 7. Earlier Thursday, it was reported that Elizabeth Edwards left everything she owned to her three children, leaving her estranged husband out of the will completely.