Aretha Franklin to Say ‘I Do’

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Aretha Franklin is not pregnant, but she is engaged.

The 69-year-old singer known as the “Queen of Soul” plans to tie the knot with her longtime friend, William “Willie” Wilkerson, she told the Associated Press in a statement today.

The Grammy-winning singer said the couple may tie the knot in a summer wedding, but not because they’re expecting any little prince or princesses of soul.

“No, I’m not pregnant,” she joked to the AP.

The walk down the aisle will be the third for Franklin, who divorced first husband, Ted White, in 1969 after eight years of marriage, and ended her six-year marriage to actor Glynn Turman in 1984.

The engagement, which came over the holidays, is good news for Franklin, who has experienced health problems of late.

The singer was hospitalized in December 2010 for reasons she and her representatives still decline to discuss.  After months out of the public eye, Franklin reemerged at the Grammy Awards in February, 85 pounds slimmer.

There were reports that Franklin had suffered from pancreatic cancer, or undergone gastric bypass surgery, both claims the singer strongly denied.

“There was just so many wild things out there and just so many things being said that weren’t true…,” Franklin was quoted as saying at the time.  “I don’t know where pancreatic cancer came from.”

“It definitely was not the bariatric or, what is it, gastric… Yeah, I can’t even tell you the correct name of it,” she also said.

Franklin told the AP she and Wilkerson are planning a June or July wedding, possibly in Miami Beach, Fla., with a post-ceremony reception aboard a private yacht.

When it comes to what the three-time bride will wear down the aisle, Franklin said she’s considering having either Vera Wang, Valentino or Donna Karan design her wedding dress.