entertainment

Mariah Carey and James Packer probably aren't engaged. But she still has a massive ring on her ring finger.

 

It’s still 2015 for a few more hours but I am ready to call it.

If there’s any truth to the rumours, the Mariah Carey/James Packer wedding will undoubtedly be the spectacle of 2016.

But let’s not get too carried away.

After all, a diva of Mariah Carey’s stature surely has a lot of diamonds of her own.

Just because she turned up at Melbourne’s Crown Casino last night wearing a huge ring on her ring finger doesn’t mean the twice-divorced songstress is engaged.

The ring that sparked the speculation.

She’s in town to spend time with Packer (who also has two previous marriages under his belt) and perform at a sold-out New Year’s Eve party at Crown tonight.

Carey, 45, arrived at the casino wearing a plunging black halter-neck dress and the ring, which is a large butterfly design. At first I wondered how she looked so fresh after the long flight from Aspen to Melbourne, but then I saw this:

She and Packer, 48, played up for the cameras, sharing a brief kiss and a close embrace as she pulled up out the front of Crown.

He also gave a fond pat on the behind.

This is the first trip to Australia for the couple, and Carey will reportedly be spending time on Packer’s Ellerston estate in the Hunter Valley as well as Sydney and Melbourne.

But it’s unlikely the public display was alluding to upcoming nuptials.

The ring, and the bracelet Carey is also wearing, is a favourite of the superstar, she can been seen wearing it regularly in pictures she posts on Instagram and Twitter.

#CountdownToChristmas #GingerbreadCreations #FamilyFunTime #MerryChristmas

A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on

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And she’s been wearing it since before her relationship with the Australian billionaire began.

The pair announced their relationship in June of 2015, and spent time together in Aspen over the Christmas break.

A picture of Carey with her daughter ,posted in April 2014 was one of the first instances of the ring showing up on Carey’s finger.

You can see the butterfly ring in this picture of Carey from 2014.

Carey has also used the ring as part of the promotional materials produced for her tours and shows in recent years.

It is clearly not a gift from Packer.

So, what have we learned?

Mariah Carey likes butterflies, diamonds and James Packer. (Not necessarily in that order.) And if you’ve got a ticket to Crown’s New Year’s party, you’ll likely see all three.