Going to the chapel...but are star couple Claire Danes and Ben Lee really going to get married?

Hollywood's Juliet, Claire Danes, and her cute Romeo, Aussie singer Ben Lee dropped in to the Sydney beach suburb of Bondi last week - and checked out somewhere rather more intriguing than the usual seaside sights.

The low-key teenage couple enjoyed the fine summer weather on offer, and as well as grabbing a burger and doing some window-shopping, they also took in what's not normally considered a celebrity hangout - the Uniting Church's Chapel by the Sea.

Claire and Ben, both aged 19, popped into the quaint wedding venue late in the afternoon. The chapel was officially closed over the New Year period, meaning there were no exhibitions, coffee mornings or even church services to tempt them inside. Sources claim the couple were quizzing church staff about making marriage arrangements, but, when approached by NW, Minister Jonathan Barker wasn't giving anything away. Instead, he told us to watch this space and smiled: "Stick around".

In a interview late last year, Claire revealed she had visited a psychic called George during a stay in Bondi, and he told her she would marry Ben and have twins. The young starlet has also talked often about how much she enjoys Australia. "I love it. It's a great place. My dream is to have a place in Sydney and a place in New York and just divide my time between the two cities," she reveals.

Ben has already had the "stamp of approval" from Claire's New York parents - "he's passed, he's good to go" says his doting girlfriend - and she met his parents two years ago when their love blossomed.

Claire fell for Ben when Winona Ryder passed on to her one of his CD's. "I asked the director of Romeo + Juliet to put one of his songs on the soundtrack," she explains. "It didn't work out, but Ben found out about my plugging him so he faxed me and said, 'Thanks so much for spreading the word. If you want to hang out and get coffee, we should'."

With the couple choosing to spend New Year's Eve in Sydney to attend the opening night of the Sydney Theatre Company's production Fred, starring Matt Day, who knows what 1999 Down Under will bring for them?

© NW - 1999