Bishop in rooftop row visits Jade ahead of wedding

Jade Goody has been visited by an independent bishop as preparations continue for her wedding to fiancé Jack Tweed on Sunday.

Bishop Jonathan Blake made the visit at Jade’s home in Upshire, Essex, but declined to comment on whether he would conduct the wedding ceremony, according to the Press Association.

The bishop, part of the independent Open Episcopal Church, was at the centre of a row last week after he photographed his children sitting on the family home’s chimney stack. The pictures were taken for a challenge set by the children’s school to be pictured reading a book in the most unusual place.

Bishop Blake insists his children were never in any danger as they have experience in outdoor climbing and were wearing a safety harness at the time. He is, according to The Daily Mail, considering legal action against the police for alleged false imprisonment and personal injury.

Jade, who has terminal cancer, was released this week from London’s Royal Marsden cancer hospital to continue plans for her wedding at Down Hall Country House Hotel.

The cockney-themed dinner will see some 300 guests dine on whelks, mussels, jellied eels, pie and mash and fish and chips, washed down with the help of 300 bottles of Malibu, champagne and vodka, according to The Daily Mail.

In an extraordinary turnaround today, Justice Minister Jack Straw intervened to lift Tweed’s curfew so that he and Jade can spend their wedding night together. Tweed was originally to return to his mother’s house by 7pm under the terms of his early release from an 18-month prison sentence for assault.

The Justice Secretary had “enormous sympathy” for Jade and her family and acknowledged her “extraordinary courage”, a spokesman said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also offered his sympathies to the former Big Brother contestant, saying his thoughts are with her and all cancer sufferers.

Harrods owner Mohammad Al Fayed waived the fee on Jade’s £3,500 cream and ivory silk wedding gown, which will be fitted with a small pouch to hold her painkillers, while Girls Aloud are trying to rearrange their schedule after Jade said she wanted them to perform at the wedding.

Jade has said she wants to christen her sons, five-year-old Bobby and four-year-old Freddie, before she dies so that when she is gone they can know that their mummy is looking down from Heaven.

She told the News of the World, “I want them to understand that Mummy will be in Heaven watching over them. It’s really important to me now that they learn about Jesus and I want them to be christened so they still feel I’m there for them.”