OMEN
04-04-2009, 03:12 PM
Thousands of mourners have said farewell to reality TV star Jade Goody, the 'local girl made good' whose death from cancer touched the hearts of millions.
Her widower Jack Tweed fought back tears at her funeral as he described the loss felt by him and Jade's two young sons.
Mourners at the St John the Baptist Church, in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, watched a collection of images of Jade on giant screens while listening to The Beatles' song She Loves You.
The montage ended with a film clip of Jade saying: "That's it from me. See you around maybe. Bye."
Paying tribute, her publicist Max Clifford said: "When we left the house it was cloudy and overcast. As we moved forwards the sun started to come through and that is what in many ways Jade's life was like."
He said she became a princess in Bermondsey, the tough inner London district where she was raised, and then a queen in Essex.
And he paid tribute to her success in encouraging women to go for checks against cervical cancer, the disease that killed her at the age of 27.
The London Community Gospel Choir sang Amazing Grace as her white coffin was carried into the church shortly after midday. Mr Tweed, 21, was among the six pallbearers.
The service was relayed on two giant screens for the crowd of well-wishers outside the church.
Jade's sons Bobby, five, and Freddie, four, did not attend the funeral.
Thousands lined the streets as the Big Brother star's funeral cortege made its way from Bermondsey to her last home in Upshire, Essex.
Dozens of photographers followed the vintage Rolls-Royce hearse as it carried Jade's coffin on a route that included Tower Bridge.
Police stopped traffic as the cortege, walked by funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer and the vicar of St James's Church, Rev Stewart Hartley.
Fans tossed flowers onto the hearse as it passed by. Others stood applauding in the rain.
Jade's mother Jackiey Budden, 51, was shaking and crying as she climbed into the car at the head of the funeral procession.
The cortege stopped outside a market on Southwark Park Road, known as The Blue, where Jade's family used to have a stall.
Mr Albin-Dyer told the crowd: "I knew you'd be like this. I knew you'd come and say goodbye like this. So from everyone in Bermondsey, goodbye."
He then released a single white dove, which was greeted by loud cheering and applause.
Jade died at home at the age of 27 on March 22 after losing a battle with cervical cancer.
The mother-of-two married Jack Tweed, 21, at a ceremony in a hotel near Hatfield Heath, Essex, on 22 February after being told that she had only weeks to live.
The service ended at around 1.45pm. Mourners applauded as Miss Goody's coffin was carried from the church.
She is to be buried in a private service near her home.
RTE
Her widower Jack Tweed fought back tears at her funeral as he described the loss felt by him and Jade's two young sons.
Mourners at the St John the Baptist Church, in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, watched a collection of images of Jade on giant screens while listening to The Beatles' song She Loves You.
The montage ended with a film clip of Jade saying: "That's it from me. See you around maybe. Bye."
Paying tribute, her publicist Max Clifford said: "When we left the house it was cloudy and overcast. As we moved forwards the sun started to come through and that is what in many ways Jade's life was like."
He said she became a princess in Bermondsey, the tough inner London district where she was raised, and then a queen in Essex.
And he paid tribute to her success in encouraging women to go for checks against cervical cancer, the disease that killed her at the age of 27.
The London Community Gospel Choir sang Amazing Grace as her white coffin was carried into the church shortly after midday. Mr Tweed, 21, was among the six pallbearers.
The service was relayed on two giant screens for the crowd of well-wishers outside the church.
Jade's sons Bobby, five, and Freddie, four, did not attend the funeral.
Thousands lined the streets as the Big Brother star's funeral cortege made its way from Bermondsey to her last home in Upshire, Essex.
Dozens of photographers followed the vintage Rolls-Royce hearse as it carried Jade's coffin on a route that included Tower Bridge.
Police stopped traffic as the cortege, walked by funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer and the vicar of St James's Church, Rev Stewart Hartley.
Fans tossed flowers onto the hearse as it passed by. Others stood applauding in the rain.
Jade's mother Jackiey Budden, 51, was shaking and crying as she climbed into the car at the head of the funeral procession.
The cortege stopped outside a market on Southwark Park Road, known as The Blue, where Jade's family used to have a stall.
Mr Albin-Dyer told the crowd: "I knew you'd be like this. I knew you'd come and say goodbye like this. So from everyone in Bermondsey, goodbye."
He then released a single white dove, which was greeted by loud cheering and applause.
Jade died at home at the age of 27 on March 22 after losing a battle with cervical cancer.
The mother-of-two married Jack Tweed, 21, at a ceremony in a hotel near Hatfield Heath, Essex, on 22 February after being told that she had only weeks to live.
The service ended at around 1.45pm. Mourners applauded as Miss Goody's coffin was carried from the church.
She is to be buried in a private service near her home.
RTE