On July 23, 2016, Amanda Teague, 45, married her Haitian husband Jack Teague on a small boat in the Atlantic Ocean. The weather was stormy and waves rocked the vessel violently. The divorced mother of four—who worked as a Jack Sparrow impersonator in Ireland—said “I do,” in a white lace gown and veil. And someone else said it back, but it wasn’t the man she was about to marry. He was already dead.
Teague made headlines last week after news broke that she married the ghost of a 300-year-old Haitian pirate. She claims their spiritual relationship began in 2015, when she was lying in bed at home in Drogheda, Ireland, and sensed his presence. After six months of continued contact with the ghost of the deceased freebooter, she developed feelings for him and the two made plans to officiate their love for each other.
Similar to most normal relationships, the couple act out when jealous, have arguments about responsibility, go away to Dublin on weekends together for romantic getaways and even engage in lovemaking. Teague describes their chemistry as “incredible” and says that Jack is “the best sex she’s ever had”.
Speaking to Newsweek, Teague confirmed that their wedding was similar to one at a registry office, in the sense that it was short, small, and functional. The couple held another wedding in October 2017, which involved a more comprehensive group of family and friends to better celebrate their union.
“We sailed into international waters so we could legally marry. It’s not legal in the UK or Ireland to marry a deceased person, so we spoke to some lawyers and did it officially,” she said.
Teague says she is the first person in the U.K. and Ireland to legally marry a ghost. Despite admitting that, as it stands, the law does not expressly recognize marriage to a deceased person, Teague explains that she followed proper procedures instructed to her by lawyers to bypass the rules.
A registrar was present at the wedding who registered their marriage, Jack Teague gave consent through a medium that was independent of her, and she even changed her last name to his to honor their nuptials.
“I haven’t been challenged yet,” Teague said. “There was one government agent who asked me to explain my situation and I told him about spirituality and our connection. He just accepted that.
If in the future I am challenged, [legal advisors] have told me that there are certain routes we could go down to try and get our marriage recognized by law… I am willing to do it and fight [for our right to be married],” she added.
Shlomit Glaser, a family lawyer at Glaser Jones Law, told Newsweek that marrying a ghost and marrying a dead person are two different things. But “neither are legally recognized in the UK or Ireland”.
“It's not illegal. It's not a criminal act and you are not committing an offense, but the government doesn't recognize it. They won't be allowed the benefits of a married couple,” she said.
Glaser admitted that there was one legal avenue where it could be possible. Although she insisted that this conclusion was reached from applying general family law principles, it has never been tested on the present set of facts and is purely speculative.
“She would have to go to a jurisdiction where it is legal, follow the procedure in that jurisdiction and when she returns to the U.K. or Ireland, she must prove that it’s legal in the jurisdiction [where she was married] with proper documentation and only then could the authorities agree to recognize it,” she said.
Ghost relationships and marriages are not uncommon. Last December, Cornwall Live reported the stories of two women who were deep in the throes of paranormal passion.
Amethyst Realm, a 27-year-old spiritual guidance counselor from Bristol, U.K., told the local paper about her sexual ectoplasmic encounters with 20 different ghosts. During an appearance on ITV’s This Morning, she described to viewers her ritual to seduce ghosts, which involved wearing sexy lingerie.
Realm’s story is just one of countless others that have been shared by spiritual believers around the world.
Posthumous marriage, otherwise known as necrogamy, is the term given to marriages where one participating member is dead. In some societies, it is possible and even an established practice.
In France, it is explicitly legal to marry a deceased person.