British reality star to be buried in media glare

The funeral of British reality television star Jade Goody, who died of cervical cancer last month, takes place Saturday, promising as much flamboyance to mark her death as she showed in life.

Goody died on March 23 aged 27. She lived her whole adult life in the media spotlight after finishing fourth in the 2002 of reality show "Big Brother" and transforming that brief notoriety into a career which made her a millionairess.

She released an autobiography, perfume and exercise video and was a fixture in Britain's tabloids. But her career was nearly ruined when she subjected Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty to racist bullying on 2007's "Celebrity Big Brother", although the two later made up.

Events around her funeral will last much of Saturday. They started earlier when a black, vintage Rolls-Royce hearse carrying her white coffin drove slowly through Bermondsey, a deprived area of southeast London where she grew up.

Hundreds of well-wishers threw flowers as they watched the procession go by, while press photographers ran in front of the hearse, jostling for the best pictures. Funeral directors released a dove in her memory.

Floral wreathes spelling out some of loud-mouthed Goody's best-known catchphrases -- such as "minging" (disgusting) and "East Angular" (her mangled pronounciation of East Anglia, an area of England) -- were also on display.

The hearse passed through London's East End and headed to Saint John the Baptist Church at Buckhurst Hill, northeast of London, where the funeral service will be held at noon (1100 GMT).

Goody lived nearby and married her boyfriend Jack Tweed, 21, a few miles away in February after being told she had only weeks to live.

Tweed is expected to read a poem at the funeral, after which Goody will reportedly be buried in her wedding dress.

Goody's sons Bobby and Freddy, aged five and four, are not expected to attend the funeral and are thought to have gone on holiday with their father, television presenter Jeff Brazier, to Australia.

Her publicist Max Clifford has said the funeral will be "a very Jade Goody event".