DYING Jade Goody wed her sweetheart Jack Tweed yesterday — hours after telling him: “Find another when I’m gone.”
The 27-year-old mum, given just weeks to live with terminal cancer, defied her pain to tie the knot in Hatfield Heath, Essex.
A family friend said: “She’s told Jack she wants him to be happy.”
And brave Jade moved wedding guests to tears as she stood to deliver a 30-minute speech — and admitted: “I’m praying for a miracle.”
The cancer-stricken Big Brother favourite added: “I hope we can come back here in a few years’ time. I never want to leave any of you.”
Jade spoke out after tying the knot with sweetheart Jack in an emotional country hotel ceremony. An insider said the 27-year-old, who summoned the strength to walk down the aisle unaided, addressed nearly 200 guests in a marquee after the service.
He said: “She was on her feet for half an hour talking. She really did herself proud and she looked beautiful. She thanked everyone in her speech and said she was praying for a miracle, as we all are.”
Jade told guests: “I’m just so very happy.” Earlier she displayed her familiar feisty style as she jokingly harangued Jack during the ceremony — ordering him to look at her as they swapped vows.
She also drew laughter with a string of off-the-cuff quips.
The mum of two, who suffered a scare when she fell ill the night before, defied her terminal disease to stand beside smart-suited Jack for most of the 45-minute service.
He had earlier played a gag by leaving his Essex home clad only in frilly knickers and a BRA, showing off the leg tag attached following his recent release from prison.
Beaming Jade — in a £3,500 Manuel Mota ivory dress — refused to cover her bald head, a legacy of months of chemotherapy.
At one point she began sobbing and was handed a tissue by a bridesmaid. She finally requested a chair five minutes from the end.
Earlier, she and 21-year-old Jack swapped vows with Jade’s sons — Bobby, five, and four-year-old Freddie — sitting on their knees.
The youngsters, from a previous relationship, carried Jade’s train down the aisle before she signed the marriage register as Mrs Tweed. The newlyweds received a standing ovation from guests.
As the marriage was confirmed, doves were released into the sky above 14th-century Down Hall Country House Hotel in Hatfield Heath, Essex.
During the ceremony a plane streaked over, flying a banner featuring the couple’s names and a loveheart. They were due to stay in the hotel’s pink bridal suite. But Jade’s ill health saw her book a more accessible ground-floor room. The star’s hospital bed was transferred there with a morphine drip.
Part-time model Jack had proposed barely a week earlier after doctors told Jade they could no longer cure her cancer.
He arrived at the hotel with Jade’s sons just before 10am in a blue Rolls-Royce. Jade, who was helicoptered in on Saturday, kept him waiting for about 45 minutes.
She was given away by proud grandfather John Caddock, 70 — and later started crying when Jack told guests, “Look at my beautiful wife”, before telling her: “I’m proud to say I’m your husband.”
Jade’s spokesman Max Clifford said: “The chapel was beautiful and it was a very moving service.
“Jade looked lovely. She didn’t want to wear a wig. She was bald and proud. The ceremony had lots of tears, smiles and laughter.
“Jade was just herself. She was telling Jack, ‘You’re not looking at me Jack, make sure you’re looking at me.’ And of course he was.
“They said their vows with the children on their knees. Some of Jade’s ad-libs were hilarious.
“She would have been in a lot of pain but for the measures put in place. It’s a huge relief she was able to handle it as she did.”
Mr Clifford said the pair were “thrilled” to spend their wedding night together, adding: “It might be the only one they have. There won’t be a honeymoon as Jade’s too ill.” He told how Jade, who posed on Saturday with pals wearing caps to mimic her bald head, courageously stood for her speech.
He said: “She was on her feet for half an hour talking. She thanked everyone, but also said she was praying for a miracle.”
Guests including TV host Nick Ross, chef Aldo Zilli, pop star Antony Costa and easyJet boss Stelios moved into the white marquee to celebrate the wedding.
They were entertained by a DJ and chart queens Sugababes. Guests were treated to jellied eels, fish and chips and pie and mash. Fireworks lit the sky at 9.30pm.
The music stopped at midnight but celebrations continued. The wedding was top-security after rights were sold for £750,000.
Jade has admitted she is raising as much as she can for her lads. A pal said: “It was Jade’s dying wish to marry Jack. But she’s so selfless and wants him to be happy. She’s told him he should see other people when he feels the time is right.”
