A close pal of newly-weds PIERCE BROSNAN and KEELY SHAYE-SMITH has claimed it was Keely who actually proposed to the 007 star.

The couple married in an old abbey in the west of Ireland last weekend (04AUG01), later holding a glitzy reception in ASHFORD CASTLE. In a report in the Irish NEWS OF THE WORLD newspaper, the pal explains,

"Pierce vowed after his wife CASSIE died that he would never get married again. But Keely fell in love with him at first sight. She pursued him to the end and asked him to marry her."

"Everyone thinks that because he plays the suave, cool, all- action hero JAMES BOND, Pierce would have done the asking. But he didn't. They only walked down the aisle because she proposed. " (RXT/INW/NFA)

Source: WENN