Why Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall's 1999 Bali Wedding Wasn't Actually a Wedding

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall had been together since 1977, had four children, and considered themselves married after a Hindu ceremony in Bali in 1999. But years later, when they split in 1999—yes, the same year—a British court ruled that the ceremony had no legal standing under English law, making it just a lavish commitment ritual, not a binding marriage. That meant Hall couldn’t claim Jagger’s fortune in the divorce; she settled for a reported £15 million, far less than she might have gotten.

The breakup itself was triggered by Jagger’s affair with Brazilian model Luciana Morad, who gave birth to his son Lucas in 1999—just weeks before the Bali ceremony, actually. Hall found out, the marriage (such as it was) ended, and Jagger later had another child with Morad. The whole mess gave the tabloids years of material and left Hall without the legal protections she likely assumed she had.