Is she, isn't she? We know Britney Spears was last married in January. That didn't work. We were then given to believe she was married sometime last week. Now, according to ananova.com, it turns out that wasn't exactly the case either.

Apparently, Spears and her current husband Kevin Federline are not legally married yet. They still need to send off their marriage licence, without which the state of California will not recognise them as man and wife.

Even more interesting is a claim being made by US magazine, that the whole wedding was a hoax!

As proof, the magazine quotes from a four-page document, which states: Britney Spears and Kevin Federline agree that they intend to participate in a 'faux' wedding with one another on September 18, 2004. However, they do not intend to and shall not validly marry one another on said date.

They say the event could possibly be a smokescreen for a real wedding that may happen sometime soon.

Inside sources believe the licence delay is due to the drawing up of a pre-nuptial agreement protecting Spears' huge fortune from Federline. The singer, however, believes it's pretty much a formality. 'No pieces of paper can capture what I feel,' she said. 'I know we're not completely legal until we file the licence, which we will do next week, but in a spiritual sense, we're married.'

Spiritual or not, they have a couple of days to get the paper to the US version of a register office. It is only when that happens that they will be sent a permanent licence with an official seal.

Photograph: Getty Images