US R&B star Beyonce has openly discussed her marriage to rapper Jay-Z for the first time.

The couple have been notoriously secretive about their relationship, and have previously refused to confirm tabloid reports that they married in a private ceremony last April.

However, in an interview with Essence magazine, Beyonce spoke in detail about the wedding, admitting that the interviewer was “gonna get me in trouble”.

She told the magazine that the ceremony was intimate because she didn't want it to be seen as “her day”. “It's been my day so many days already," she said.

Beyonce also revealed that the couple hadn't got engagement rings because she wasn't a “traditional” woman. Instead, she said, they got tattoos of the Roman numeral four on their ring fingers.

The number is significant because her birthday is on September 4th, the rapper's birthday is on December 4th and they married on April 4th.

Although she didn't discuss when the couple, who have been romantically linked since 2002, decided to get married, she did speak about their relationship in general.

"We decide everything. My word is my word. What Jay and I have is real. It's not about interviews or getting the right photo op. It's real,” she said.

(by Jason Gregory)