Lorde Keeps Her Love Life on the DL

I feel like I'm always reading about Lorde paling around with BFF Taylor Swift. I also hear a lot about Taylor Swift's many love interests and ex-boyfriends. Honestly, I hear way too much about that. And in stark contrast, I pretty much never hear anything about Lorde's dating life. What's the story behind those crazy nails, wild hair, and that famous snarl? Is Lorde dating anyone?

As you know, Lorde is an 18-year-old singer from New Zealand with two Grammy Awards and some highly popular songs. She clearly has a lot more going for her than the average teenage girl. She just has to be hanging out with someone other than Taylor Swift on a regular basis, right? Lorde and Taylor are a great duo, but there's nothing wrong with having a little romance on the side of a solid best friendship. (Or at least "talking" to someone on a semi-regular basis in that teen girl sort of way.) So what is her deal? Is she single these days? Or is she in a relationship? Is she just too focused on the music to even care?

To cut to the chase, Lorde appears to be dating photographer James Lowe. I found out all the key facts about their relationship. And as expected with any 18-year-old girl, a lot of it revolves around social media posts.

The Age Difference

Lorde has been dating 25-year-old photographer James Lowe for a few years now. It is a little unclear how long, but it seems they have been together since she came on the scene at age 16 with her debut single "Royals." (Worth noting is the fact that the age of consent in New Zealand is 16.) The age difference has been a hot topic with fans and critics, but Lorde has the approval from her parents. Last year, Lorde's mom Sonja Yelich told Rolling Stone, "I didn't say, 'Yeah, sure, go date a 24-year-old.' But her dad and I met James and we liked him. When Ella was much younger, her first boyfriend was older — four years or something."

The Cyber Bullying

When Lorde was thrust into the public eye last year, there was a lot of attention focused on more than just her music. There was a critical eye looking at everything and everyone around her and this included her boyfriend. Photos of Lorde and Lowe hit the Internet in October 2013 and people were very harsh about his appearance and and cyber bullied him with extremely racist and cruel comments. When asked about how it felt to be the center of attention, Lowe told People Magazine , "The times I have, it's never been fun." Lowe also wrote about the cruelty on his own blog called Ono Field: "Negative aspects are only a small part of my world now and there is a bright, shining silver lining to this thing I've been exposed to." He sounds like a very positive person, so it's nice to know that Lorde has someone like this around in her hectic life.

The Instagram Speculation

In July 2014, Lorde posted a photo on Instagram of herself and Lowe and used the word "friend" in the caption. This verbiage sent the Internet into a tizzy. Did they break up? Who just refers to her long time boyfriend as "friend?" This was unclear for a while and was never actually addressed. Also, the photo was eventually deleted. Don't fret though, Lowe was present for Lorde's 18th birthday at the beginning of November. I am going to take this as a confirmation of romantic bliss. He also Instagrammed a photo of Lorde the day before with balloon emojis in the caption. This is in addition to paparazzi photos of the two walking around in New Zealand with their hair up. You know what they say, the couple that shares hair ties together, stays together. Or something like that...