The BBC also quoted him as saying she had been able to stand for most of the 45-minute ceremony but asked to sit down at the end.

The couple received a standing ovation after they exchanged vows, while doves were released during the ceremony, while Ms Goody shed tears at 'the lovely things that were being said''.

The bride has defended her decision to live out in the public eye what will probably be her last weeks, saying the money she earns will help provide for her two sons, aged five and four.

'I've lived in front of the cameras, and maybe I'll die in front of them,' the star, who has lost her hair after chemotherapy for cervical cancer, told News of the World.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw stepped in to ensure that Mr Tweed - freed from jail last month after attacking a teenager with a golf club - could spend his wedding night with Ms Goody, even though it breached his bail terms.

The bride achieved notoriety in 2007, sparking a race row between Britain and India by calling Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty 'Shilpa Poppadom'.

But Ms Shetty last week told ITV: 'I really want people to forget the past, and I really want them to pray and send her good wishes because that's something that will give her energy.'

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE