Dying Jade Goody To Marry On Sunday

Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been prevailed upon to comment.

Reality TV star Jade Goody, who has only weeks to live after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, is to marry on Sunday.

The 27-year-old has refused to wear a veil for the televised ceremony at Hatfield Heath in Essex, showing her head left bald by chemotherapy treatment.

She has also pledged to walk down the aisle unaided to meet her fiance, former convict Jack Tweed, 21, at the altar. Determined to make as much as she can from her remaining time for the benefit of her two sons, Goody has sold television and magazine rights to the ceremony for over one million pounds.

Goody first appeared on reality TV show Big Brother in 2002 where her earthy language and poor geography -- including her now legendary admission: "I thought East Anglia was abroad" -- gained her instant notoriety.

She might have disappeared and gone back to her day job as a dentist's assistant, but she used her 15 minutes of fame to make herself a regular fixture in tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines.

Five years later she took part in Celebrity Big Brother where her racially tinged tirade against Bollywood film star Shilpa Shetty led to nationwide vilification -- and even more fame.

The Goody brand includes her own perfume, dance workout videos as well as her autobiography "Jade" which pulled no punches about her tough working class background

In late 2008, after appearing on an Indian version of Big Brother, she announced she had cancer and was dying.

The tabloids have been feasting on every mawkish detail of her decline ever since, as commentators try to digest the social implications of a celebrity created entirely by reality TV and the very public nature of her dying.

Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been prevailed upon to comment.

"I think the whole country will be worried and anxious about her health," he said at his monthly press conference when asked his reaction to her plight.

Shilpa Shetty too has sent her best wishes, although she will not be attending the wedding.

"I want people to forget the past and pray for her," she said.