Lawyers acting for Mick Jagger last night disclosed they would be contesting Ms Jerry Hall's petition to divorce the Rolling Stones frontman - on the grounds the couple are not married.
The claim followed the Texan model's announcement last Friday that she was petitioning for divorce, in what was predicted could be the most expensive family law case in British legal history.
A statement released through the PR agency LD Publicity said: "To avoid any misinterpretation and speculation, Mick Jagger's lawyers, Smyth Barkham, wish to state they will be contesting Jerry Hall's divorce petition on the grounds that Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall are not, and never have been, married."
There was no further explanation from Jagger's lawyers, but the claims mirror reports which emerged during an earlier Jagger/Hall bust-up in August 1992. Then it was claimed that the priest who officiated at the couple's Hindu wedding ceremony in Bali did not receive the necessary legal documents.
There was only one witness to the 1990 ceremony, it was claimed, and the necessary letter of authority had not been obtained from the British consul.
On Friday Ms Hall's lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, said they had initiated divorce proceedings.
Hall (42) was reportedly seeking £30 million from Jagger's estimated £150 million fortune. A settlement of that size would easily exceed the £17 million received by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1996 - a settlement also negotiated by Mishcon de Reya.