Angelina Jolie's whirlwind romance with Brad Pitt is perhaps one of the most controversial and eagerly-devoured celebrity love stories of our times. There are, of course, virtually thousands of reasons for the never-ending public fascination with this particular celebrity couple, but some of the more obvious ones are the circumstances in which Brad and Angelina got together, and of course the couple's aura of pure contemporary glamour, a perfect blend of the American dream fulfilled, plus a little extra on the side.

We have two beautiful, successful and filthy rich actors. One of them is known for her natural beauty and her high-profile past romances that involved both men and - allegedly, of course - women. The other one - namely, Brad - broke the Hollywood pattern of "the cute blond guy who married the popular blond movie star" when he ended his four-year marriage to Jennifer Aniston and promptly started a relationship with the controversial Angelina. All this comes with the added bonus of an ever-expanding family and a permanent "Angie versus Jennifer" friction - copiously exploited by the popular media. What's not to love?

Brad and Angelina got together - from a purely professional perspective, we're told - when they signed up to portray an on-screen spy couple in the now world-famous flick "Mr.& Mrs. Smith". Soon, on-set rumors emerged, claiming that Brad was spending more time with Angelina than with his wife, and it wasn't long before Brad and Jennifer Aniston announced their separation and subsequent divorce, although, of course, everyone's representatives officially denied that Angelina had anything to do with this. Pitt and Aniston's divorce became official on October 2nd, 2006, and barely three months later, with the eyes of the whole world upon her, Angelina announced she was pregnant with Brad Pitt's baby. Which kind of made the whole "are they or aren't they together" rumors seem slightly ridiculous.

Two of the things that are said to have brought Brad and Angelina together are the couple's love for children and their common passion for charity work. Angelina was named a Goodwill Ambassador by the UNHCR in 2001, and her genuine interest in worldwide humanitarian crises has led her to embark on a long series of field missions, visiting refugees and internally displaced persons, in an effort to gather money and raise public awareness to a variety of poverty-stricken areas on the globe. Brad's relationship with Angelina also meant that he saw his dream of becoming a parent come true. The actor became the official father of Angelina's first two adopted children, Maddox and Zahara, changing their last name to "Jolie-Pitt". The couple then adopted another child, Pax, and had a biological daughter, Shiloh. At the moment, Angelina is once again pregnant and widely rumored to be expecting twins.

Angelina and Brad's lives were already subject to intense media scrutiny before the two actors became involved, however, once their relationship became public, the "Brangelina" craze swept the world and a day barely goes by now without some sort of Brangelina rumor making the entertainment headlines. The couple's high-profile lifestyle, their many journeys around the world, Angelina's weight and rumored eating disorders, her kids' daily lives, her current and past pregnancy, this is but a taste of the media assault on the Brangie fortress we get to witness every day. However, despite a lot of negative prognostics, Brad and Angelina are still going strong, raising their children, dealing with their acting careers and doing charity work around the world, and being the embodiment of the very best a contemporary high-profile love story can offer.