Katie Price’s whirlwind wedding to Lee Andrews may not be legally binding after it was revealed that the lavish Dubai ceremony was ‘for show.’
The former glamour model, 47, tied the knot with the businessman in an ultra-quick ceremony this weekend, just days after confirming their engagement.
However, it has now emerged that the wedding itself is unlikely to carry any legal weight.
The celebrant who conducted the ceremony has confirmed that it was purely symbolic.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, Darryl Rees, a Swansea-born part-time DJ and MC who has been carrying out weddings in Dubai for the past five years, explained: ‘I’m a showman, you have to go to court to have it legalised.’
Rees went on to say that most British couples who marry in Dubai opt for a picturesque ceremony in an exotic location, while handling the less glamorous legal requirements either in a Dubai court or back in a UK register office, either before or after the celebration.
At present, it is unclear whether or not Katie and Lee chose to do so.
The revelation adds another twist to a romance that has unfolded at startling speed.
It is believed Katie met Lee just a week before marrying him, with even her closest friends and family reportedly stunned by how quickly things escalated.
Within days of her arrival in Dubai, Lee proposed with a large diamond ring and rose petals spelling out ‘Will you marry me?,’ with Katie confirming the engagement on social media.
Images shared by the mum-of-five also showed Lee already sporting a ‘Katie’ tattoo on his hand.
Declaring ‘Manifesting does work,’ she gushed that she had been ‘swept off [her] feet’ and compared her new partner to Richard Gere.
Just two days later, the pair were saying their vows.
Photos obtained by The Sun showed the couple kissing after the ceremony, with Katie wearing a body-hugging white dress while Lee opted for a relaxed linen outfit. Katie appeared radiant as she left the venue, a new Cartier accessory visible on her finger.
In a statement given to The Sun shortly after the ceremony, Katie described the relationship as almost mystical. ‘How I met Lee was esoteric; we connected [by] both checking each other’s socials and quickly realised, “Wow, this is for me.”’
She explained that they initially fell for one another through words alone before things quickly intensified.
‘That evolved deeper as we connected further within days, [getting] matching tattoos, and then both deciding to buy rings for the other. All this without even meeting, we let fate, but you could [say] destiny, decide.’
Katie added: ‘I’m just so happy with my person that is just as happy as I am. What we have, they haven’t even invented the words.’
She went on to say Lee has ‘the best version of [her]’, which ‘can only grow more, knowing [they] are each other’s’, describing the ceremony as ‘a wedding at first sight’ and summing it up with the word ‘fatale’.
Behind the scenes, however, the mood is reportedly far less celebratory. Friends close to Katie have claimed they were left ‘dumbstruck’ by the news, with one source saying her family were completely unaware she was planning to get married.
A source told Metro: ‘Katie’s family are blindsided over the marriage, they almost don’t accept that it’s real.
‘They’ve never met or spoken to Lee and are concerned over how he portrays himself online and whether he is who he says he is. The relationship has come out of nowhere.
‘Princess and Junior don’t know who Lee is and the idea of him potentially becoming their step-dad is unexpected to say the least.
‘Everyone hopes now that Katie is back in the UK they can gain some clarity over what is going on and what her long-term plans are with him.’
If legally recognised, the marriage would be Katie’s fourth. Her previous husbands include Peter Andre, Alex Reid, and Kieran Hayler, while Lee is also her ninth engagement.
The wedding has also reportedly come as a shock to her ex-boyfriend, Married At First Sight star JJ Slater, having called it quits themselves just weeks earlier.
The pair had been together for two years and were said to have discussed having children, but sources claim Katie began doubting whether JJ was ‘husband material.’
‘JJ genuinely saw a future with Katie, but it seems she ultimately had a very different outlook,’ a source said.
He has since returned to Essex and is believed to have travelled to Miami with his family to ‘heal his broken heart.’
For now, whether Katie Price is legally married or not remains uncertain.
Unless the couple quietly completed the necessary paperwork either in Dubai or back in the UK, their sun-soaked ceremony may amount to little more than a photo opportunity.
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