Hefner to wed 24-year-old Playmate

Hugh Hefner celebrated Christmas by giving his 24-year-old girlfriend an engagement ring.

The 84-year-old founder of Playboy magazine and Playboy Enterprises Inc., the company that runs his publishing empire, said in a Twitter posting that Crystal Harris burst into tears when he presented her with an engagement ring Friday night.

"This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory," he wrote. "I got what I was hoping for for Christmas Crystal's love."

And to make it absolutely clear, the star of E! reality series The Girls Next Door later tweeted again, adding: "Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring. I didn't mean to make a mystery out of it."

Hefner made no mention of when the wedding will take place, but when it does it will be his third. Earlier this year, he was divorced from his second wife, Kimberly Conrad. They married in 1989 and have two sons, Marston, 20, and Cooper, 19.

His first marriage to college sweetheart Mildred Williams ended in divorce in 1959. They have two children, Christie, 58, and David, 55.

Harris was Playboy Playmate of the Month in December 2009 and has starred in the reality show that chronicles Hefner's life at the Playboy Mansion.

Hefner founded Playboy in 1953, turning it into a multimillion-dollar publishing empire. The magazine has championed sexual freedom and civil rights, publishing stories that challenged McCarthyism and the Vietnam War, and backing gay rights and the legalization of marijuana.