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Thousands gathered to say farewell to Jade Goody today, carpeting the route to her funeral with flowers and celebrating her life with applause.

Fans and well-wishers travelled from across the country to stand outside the St John the Baptist Church in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, to pay tribute to the 27-year-old reality TV star who died from cervical cancer.

Her plain white coffin, borne in a flower-strewn vintage Rolls-Royce hearse, arrived shortly after midday, having first journeyed through the damp streets of Bermondsey, south east London, where the Big Brother star grew up.

The sun broke through as the cortege reached her last home, in Upshire, Essex. There, her mother, Jackiey Budden, 51, had to be physically helped by friends into the funeral car at the head of the 20-vehicle procession as onlookers shouted support: "Be strong, Jackiey – she's looking down on you."

Family and close friends walked behind her coffin for the last few hundred yards to the church, buoyed by a gospel choir singing some of her favourite hymns, including Amazing Grace.

Just 350 invited guests were inside the church, but outside in the sunshine, an estimated two thousand crammed in front of two large electronic screens broadcasting the service.

Goody, who died on Mother's Day leaving two small sons, Bobby, five and Freddie, four, had planned every last detail herself, including the fact that her boys would not attend. They are on holiday in Australia with their father, Jeff Brazier but were said to have carried out their own ceremony on a beach, placing hand-made paintings of their mother in a bottle and throwing it out to sea, addressed "To God" and with the message "Please give to our mummy". Another letter, among the floral tributes at the funeral, was signed from her "little men" and read: "To Mummy, Please speak to God and ask him to make the clouds go away on holiday because we can't see the stars."

Real Madrid have put in place a deal with Cristiano Ronaldo's advisers that will see him leave Manchester United this summer if the world footballer of the year gets his way. Ronaldo remains determined to move to the Bernabéu and it is understood his salary and contractual terms have already been determined as part of a planned world-record Ł75m transfer.

Ronaldo's representatives have held extensive talks with Madrid and, according to informed sources, categorically informed the Spanish club last September that he had no intention of remaining in Manchester beyond the end of the current season. It is understood that various pledges were made to ensure the deal happens and that everyone involved in the negotiations made a pact not to discuss the agreement in public.

That strategy explains why Ronaldo has stopped talking about his "dream move", but it proved too difficult for one of Real's club's directors, Pedro Trapote, who tipped off the El Mundo newspaper in December. "If you are asking me what we are going to do now, then I would tell you that we have already signed the best player for the summer," he said in a recorded interview, intended to be an off-the-record briefing. Asked to clarify that he meant Ronaldo, he added: "The best of the best. It is Cristiano, there is no other. It is better that we do not say anything at the moment, though. It is best to not say anything because there are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it now."

Sir Alex Ferguson reacted furiously at the time, insisting that he would not "sell a virus" to "that mob", but it now appears that Trapote was speaking in good faith, having been privy to what was taking place behind the scenes.

Ronaldo is said to be intent on getting his way and that means, unless United show the kind of resistance that was evident when they blocked the same move last summer, there is a distinct possibility the Premier League will lose its most recognisable player in the coming months.

There are conflicting reports about United's current position. Ever since it became apparent that Ronaldo wanted to play in Spain, United's official line has been that he is under contract until 2012 and is not for sale. That stance has not altered, but Real and Ronaldo's camp believe they made a breakthrough behind the scenes. Indeed, there are claims that the two clubs began talks earlier this season and that United have accepted Ronaldo's position. It helps the negotiation process that Ramón Calderón, the Madrid president who orchestrated last summer's affair and irritated United so much in the process, is no longer in office, having been replaced by Vicente Boluda.