Ever since he was a child, Robert Pattinson has been in the public eye – first as a heart-seeking vampire in the hugely successful Twilight film series, and more recently as an ageing Hollywood heart-breaker. While most of his films showcase his magnetic charm and boyish good looks, there is another side to the actor that rarely gets the limelight: his spouse.

Despite their marriage not being a widely publicised union, the couple’s romance story has captivated the media and the fans. After famously meeting on the set of the Twilight Saga, where he played Edward Cullen, the couple began a courtship that was followed by a whirlwind, five-year marriage. They subsequently welcomed daughter Esme in 2012 and son Kai in 2015.

So, who is Robert Pattinson’s spouse in 2019? Is it Bella or is it Kristen? Let’s find out…

Kristen Stewart

It was revealed in April 2019 that 29-year-old Kristen Stewart and 36-year-old Robert Pattinson were engaged, shortly after he finished filming on the final season of The Twilight Saga. The actress, who began dating the actor in 2013 and officially became his spouse in 2016, will reportedly wed Pattinson in a ceremony at a London venue on 20 April, just three days before the premiere of the final film in the series – Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in March 2019, Stewart revealed that she and Pattinson had been planning their wedding for “a while” and that she was “over the moon” to finally settle down with her beloved. “We’re both very busy,” she said. “We work a lot, so we make sure that we have plenty of time for each other, which is nice. But we also want to make sure that we put everything else first and make sure that we’re doing it properly. So we make sure that our wedding is special. And it is. It’s going to be gorgeous.”

Prior to their engagement in 2019, an insider revealed to Entertainment Tonight that the couple were already thinking about weddding. “Kristen has always wanted to marry Robert,” the source said. “She sees him as the father of her children, and she feels like it’s time for her to settle down and be a real mother. It’s a match made in heaven.”

The insider’s comments were supported by Stewart, who, when asked if she was looking for a “mother figure” in her life, told E! News that she sees herself “growing up” alongside Pattinson. “I think that it’s great to have a father-figure in your life,” she said. “I don’t feel that I need to be the strong one in the relationship – that’s not what I want to do. I want to be able to rely on him and be able to be strong with him, which I think is a really unique and special relationship to have. So yes, I definitely want a father-figure in my life.”

The pair have been inseparable since they first met on the set of Twilight – Pattinson playing Edward Cullen, and Stewart playing his love interest, Bella Swan – with fans regularly expressing their excitement at the prospect of seeing them tie the knot. The anticipation surrounding the upcoming nuptials has been so great that in 2019 alone, there have been over 100 articles and blog posts speculating about the wedding.

Bella Swan

Bella Swan was first introduced to audiences as the teenaged daughter of Seth and Paige – a role for which she was reportedly paid ten thousand dollars a week. A self-described “average Jane” who lives in a “typical American suburb”, the now-26-year-old actress landed her first major role after participating in a Netflix short-film program and sending in her reel to the streaming service. Impressed with her tape, the producers of the Twilight series requested her to audition for the starring role of Bella Swan.

While it was initially assumed that Bella’s romance with Twilight’s heartthrob young vampire, Edward Cullen (Pattinson), would be her only onscreen experience during the course of the franchise, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The actress, who has said that playing Bella was the “greatest acting challenge I’ve ever faced”, has gone on to feature in over 25 films, spanning from The House of Gucci to Zoolander 2. She has also starred in the highly anticipated Broadway musical, Spring Awakening, alongside Nick Jonas and Vanessa Hudgens.

In 2020, Bella will star alongside Robert Pattinson in the psychological horror, The House of Gucci – a role for which she spent six weeks intensively training. While promoting the film, which is set for release in April 2020, Bella described the experience of working with the English actor, saying, “His work ethic is just incredible. He’ll work seven days a week, 12 hours a day if need be. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a crush on him while we were doing The House of Gucci.”

An Unexpected Twist

The on-set romance between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart began inauspiciously. Unhappy with her role in the Twilight series, Stewart allegedly had an affair with her co-star and director, Taylor Lautner, while filming the first installment in 2012. The director eventually left the franchise and returned home to Canada, where he began a relationship with Stewart, who was at the time engaged to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz.

While the affair was reportedly discreet – with Stewart only admitting to it a few years later – the couple’s engagement was quickly followed by an announcement of their wedding. “They said ‘I do,’” an insider told Life & Style. “It was over almost as soon as it began.” However, due to the couple’s busy schedules – Stewart is currently finalising her divorce from Wentz – the ceremony was put on hold. The pair were eventually married in a low-key ceremony in Canada in January 2016.

For their first official appearance together as a married couple, Stewart and Pattinson were photographed walking hand-in-hand down the beach in Malibu, California. The beach was selected as it is the location of Stewart’s wedding to Wentz in 2015. Since their marriage, the couple have been spotted together on numerous occasions, including at the 2020 New York Fashion Week, where they both dressed in black alongside celebrity friends and family.

The lack of a public display of affection between the two was noted by Entertainment Tonight in 2019 when they revealed that although they had been dating for over a year, they had not yet grown comfortable with each other’s company outside of work. “They have been dating for a while, but they’re still very much trying to figure out what works for them and what doesn’t work,” the outlet reported.

The interview also noted that while Stewart had worked alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names, this was the first time that she had truly felt like an outsider. “I’ve never felt like I didn’t belong in Hollywood,” she said. “I’ve always felt like I did. But now that I’m married to someone who is in the public eye and isn’t hiding who he is, it’s a different world.”