Pop singer Beyoncé Knowles and rap mogul Jay-Z have always stayed mum about their relationship, but a U.S. town clerk has confirmed that the A-list couple were married earlier this month.

A marriage licence for the duo, dated April 4, was received by mail on Friday, the Scarsdale, N.Y., clerk confirmed on Tuesday.

Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z, seen here performing in Los Angeles in 2006, have always remained quiet about their relationship.
(Chris Carlson/Associated Press)

Wedding rumours have often swirled around the high-profile couple, who have been romantically linked since the fall of 2002.

Rumours the high-profile duo were dating began around the time the New York rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, featured Houston-born Knowles on his hit song '03 Bonnie and Clyde.

Then, with the 2003 release of Knowles's debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, Carter was again rapping alongside her, including on the album's smash first track, Crazy in Love.

Though they appeared in public together regularly afterward, Knowles and Carter routinely often refused to acknowledge or to share any details of their relationship.

Despite past hoaxes, the paparazzi went into overdrive earlier this month, staking out 26-year-old Knowles's Manhattan condo residence as well as 38-year-old Carter's place, when word spread about preparations for a lavish party.

A wedding was ultimately assumed when certain guests began turning up, including Knowles's family, her former Destiny's Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin — two of Carter's close friends.

The marriage solidifies the duo's status as an entertainment industry power couple.

Knowles rose to fame as the leader of girl band Destiny's Child and has graduated into a multiple Grammy Award-winning solo artist, a budding actress and a successful celebrity pitchwoman.

Carter, a best-selling rapper regarded as one of the genre's icons, is a former music label executive, a co-owner of the New Jersey Nets professional basketball team, and a successful hip-hop entrepreneur whose brand extends to clothing lines, real estate, sports bars and liquor.

With files from the Associated Press