Tweedy weds after cat-and-mouse media chase

After a day shrouded in mystery, Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy tonight arrived at her wedding – under a genuine shroud.

The singer tied the knot with footballer Ashley Cole in a chapel at a Hertfordshire stately home after a prolonged game of bluff and double-bluff with the press.

It may not have been quite the wedding of Charles and Diana, but the couple - who have signed an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine said to be worth £1m (€1.45m) – kept the media keen with a wild goose chase.

Staff at two separate stately homes appeared to have been briefed to dupe the press over the self-styled showbiz wedding of the year.

But the game of double bluff finally came to an end tonight as tabloid favourite Tweedy drew up outside the Holy Trinity Chapel at Wrotham Park in Barnet, Hertfordshire, draped in a sheet.

One bystander caught a glimpse of a pair of white or silver shoes as the singer arrived for the service.

But any doubts about who was under the sheet were dispelled by the sight of England and Arsenal defender Cole sporting a silver suit nearby.

The couple were later due to move on to the Palladian mansion itself, the setting for scenes from the film Gosford Park, for a reception.

Earlier, media had gathered outside Highclere Castle in Berkshire, where glamour girl Jordan wed warbler Peter Andre, only to discover that they had been hoaxed.

Staff admitted that they had agreed to take part in a deliberate charade to keep journalists away from the wedding.

A security guard, who did not want to be named, said that the couple were originally booked to get married at the spectacular Berkshire stately home.

But when word got out, Ashley Cole asked the Earl of Carnarvon, whose family owns the country house, not to deny the rumours.

Expectations of a showbiz wedding appeared to be confirmed by the sight of preparations for a large corporate bash was held in the grounds last night.

As word got out that the couple were instead to marry at Wrotham Park, photographers sped eastward.

Just minutes before the ceremony was due to begin, Wrotham Park spokeswoman Felicity Wright repeatedly insisted that the press had got the wrong venue again.

“I wish they were here but they are not,” she said.

But minutes later, after the couple were snapped by photographers, she commented: “We are a private venue, we do let the house out on occasions to individuals but we don’t tend to comment on any of the business that goes on here.”