Jay Z and Beyonce's shock age gap and mysterious inconsistencies on when they first met

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are a powerhouse couple in the music industry, but they've endured several blows to their marriage.

Most recently, the rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl along with Sean 'Diddy' Combs in 2000. Jay-Z has vehemently denied the allegation in a lengthy statement, stating the claim is 'so heinous in nature' and subsequently slammed Tony Buzbee, the lawyer who filed the civil lawsuit.

The accuser, who has been identified as Jane Doe in legal documents, has claimed the assault took place at a party after the MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z strong denies the allegations and has said he is 'heartbroken' that he will have to sit down with his daughter, Blue Ivy, 12, to address the claim. "My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people," the 55-year-old said.

The couple have put on a united front after the the allegations as they made an appearance at the LA premiere of Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, posing on the red carpet alongside their 12-year-old daughter Blue Ivy. But Beyonce has remained silent on the matter, and it is not the first time she has chosen not to comment on claims about her husband, with his alleged infidelity having made headlines over the years.

As questions have been raised on social media, particularly X, about how soon the couple's relationship started, the Mirror takes a look at their romance timeline and cheating claims...

Beyoncé, 43, has said that she was 18 when she met her now-husband, who is 12 years her senior. She previously hinted that Jay-Z was more sure of his feelings towards Bey than she was, as she admitted to taking more time to commit.

In an interview in 2009, she said: "I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating. I really don't believe that you will love the same thing when you're 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule – before the age of 25, I would never get married."

The superstar singer added: "We were friends first. Before we went on any dates, we were on the phone for a year and a half. That foundation is so important in a relationship." Seventeen reports that they indeed met when she was 18 in around 1999, however in a 2007 interview with Charlie Ross, Jay-Z reportedly said he met her "10 years ago" in around 1997.

He said they "met a long time ago" to which Charlie laughed and probed: "Don't you remember how long it was?" He suggested he started noticing her at the time she was recording Destiny's Child's debut album when she was around 16. And during a 2002 MTV interview, now widely being shared on X, the couple both hesitated when they were asked how they met.

Taking the lead, Beyonce replied: "Well, we met a long time ago... award shows, a lot of different performances." It didn't take long for the talented stars to collaborate professionally, with their first joint project being the rapper's 2002 track 03 Bonnie & Clyde, which was closely followed by her monster hit Crazy In Love.

As the title would suggest, the track was inspired by the fact that Beyoncé was besotted with Jay-Z and personal disclosure through their music would become a theme for both artists throughout their relationship. That said, one aspect of their lives that they did manage to keep under wraps was their 2008 wedding, which took place on 4 April at Jay-Z's Manhattan penthouse.

It wasn't until years later that fans were given a glimpse of the glamorous nuptials when Jay posted footage of the ceremony on Instagram to celebrate their seventh anniversary. The shots showed the groom, dressed in a tuxedo, slipping a ring onto his new wife's finger.

Beyoncé, meanwhile – who looked elegant in a strapless wedding gown – is shown punching the air in jubilation after saying "I do". But while the wedding snaps made it look like a fairy-tale romance, Beyoncé has always been honest about the fact that you have to take the rough with the smooth in a relationship.

She said: "I don't care if you're picture-perfect on every magazine cover and you're the most handsome, successful, coolest guy – you still get sad and you still get your feelings hurt, and you still get confused and vulnerable and nervous and scared. You have to find a person you can make it through the tough times with."

Becoming parents often puts a strain on relationships, but the birth of their first child, daughter Blue Ivy, on 7 January 2012, left the Single Ladies singer feeling more loved-up than ever. In her 2013 autobiographical film Life Is But A Dream, she said, "This baby has made me love him more than I ever thought I could love another human being. It's just that I love him so much that we almost feel like one. I don’t know how to describe it."

However, her road to motherhood was far from smooth and in the same film she opened up about suffering a miscarriage before their daughter was born. While they might have felt "joy" after Blue's arrival, the couple were about to be rocked by a shocking – and very public – incident.

When footage emerged of Beyoncé’s younger sister, Solange, 38, violently attacking Jay-Z in a lift following 2014’s Met Gala, it seemed there was trouble in paradise. The clip instantly went viral, with fans believing Solange's actions were linked to the rumours Jay-Z had cheated on her sister.

Days later, the family released a statement saying they had "worked through it", adding: :"Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public… We’ve put this behind us and hope everyone else will do the same."

The couple, who live in an $88 million home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, may have claimed they'd moved on from the drama, but when Beyoncé released her explosive album Lemonade in 2016, the lyrics left fans strongly suspecting she'd been cheated on. On Sorry, she sang, "He only want me when I'm not there / He better call Becky with the good hair," while on Pray You Catch Me she wrote, "You can taste the dishonesty / It's all over your breath as you pass it off so cavalier."

A year later, Jay-Z had his say in his album 4:44, where he talked about mistakes he’d made in his marriage and the shame he felt. In an interview, he said: "The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone's face that you caused and then have to deal with yourself. So, you know, most people don’t want to do that. You don't want to look inside yourself. And so you walk away."

He admitted it was "very, very uncomfortable" to hear each other's songs about their problems but said, "We were using our art like a therapy session." After navigating this painful patch in their marriage, it seemed as though the couple had come out the other side by the time Beyoncé broke the joyful news on 1 February 2017 that they were expecting twins.

Rumi and Sir were born on 13 June of that year, making their first public appearance in a now-iconic photograph posted on Instagram, which showed Beyoncé holding her new son and daughter against a backdrop of a flower arch. The following year, the singer celebrated her 37th birthday and revealed that she and Jay-Z had renewed their wedding vows.

She said: "At 36, I became a new mother of three. I breastfed twins. I renewed my vows with my husband of 10 years. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn from my past, living in the present and surrendering to the future."