Disgraced former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford engaged to the Argentinian mistress who cost him his political career

Mark Sanford and María Belén Chapur promised to stay together forever after the proposal at an upscale restaurant



Sanford's wife and four children moved out of the governor's mansion after he admitted the affair in 2009

Discovered when he disappeared for six days and aides claimed he was 'hiking the Appalachians'

Mark Sanford, the disgraced former South Carolina governor, is engaged to the Argentinian mistress who cost him his political career.



Sanford, 52, surprised journalist María Belén Chapur last week with a wedding proposal in Buenos Aires that left them both crying and promising to stay together forever.



The Republican politician was considered a rising star and a possible presidential contender until he disappeared for six days in 2009 and returned to reveal he had been meeting Miss Chapur in secret in Argentine.



Together forever: Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has pursued a relationship with María Belén Chapur. The couple are seen here in Uruguay in 2011

Cheesy: Sanford had the waiter at an upscale restaurant give the engagement ring to Miss Chapur while he hid in the bathroom

Sanford confirmed to CNN that he had, indeed, proposed.



'Yes, we are engaged, and I’m both happy and excited for what that means, I have long expressed my feelings for her, she’s a wonderful person. My closest friends have met and love her, and I look forward to introducing her to still many more that have yet to do so,' he said.



In a 2009 interview after the news of the affair broke, Sanford referred to Miss Chapur as his 'soul mate' and admitted he had 'cross the line' with other women before.



His wife Jenny moved their four sons out of the governor's mansion after his admission. She divorced him less than a year later.



Over: Sanford's affair ended his political career and his marriage to his wife Jenny (right), who divorced him in January 2010 -- six months after the scandal erupted



Argentinian news site Clarin reports that Sanford proposed at the Bella Italia Grill in the upscale Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

He arrived at the restaurant early and gave waiter the engagement ring in a bag and told him to make up a good story.



Sanford then hid in the bathroom and watched as the waiter told Miss Chapur she was the 100th customer of the day and had won a prize.

Sanford then emerged from hiding and surprised the Argentinian beauty. The pair gushed as they hugged and kissed and cried together in the restaurant. They promised to stay together forever, Clarin reports.



Sanford's soaring political career came to a screeching halt in 2009, when reports began questioning his disappearance for six days.



Aides claimed he was 'hiking the Appalachians' and was out of touch.



Left behind: Jenny Sanford moved herself and her four sons out of the governor's mansion in the days after the affair

However, a reporter caught him at the Atlanta airport leaving a flight from Buenos Aires and he shortly thereafter admitted the affair.



Sanford said he met Miss Chapur, a divorced mother of two, during a trade mission in 2001 in Uruguay, though their relationship didn't turn romantic until 2008.



Sanford reimbursed the state for one previous trip to Argentina that had been billed as a taxpayer funded trade mission.

