Ashley Cole, pop star fiancee tie the knot on weekend

LONDON - England footballer Ashley Cole put aside any World Cup disappointment when he married his pop singer fiancee Cheryl Tweedy on the weekend.

In the best traditions of celebrity weddings, the location was kept secret, although several newspapers reported the pair were going tie the knot amidst the neo-Gothic splendour of Highclere Castle in Berkshire, where glamour model Jordan and singer Peter Andre married last year.

In fact, the location was revealed to be the Holy Trinity Chapel at Wrotham Park in Barnet, Hertfordshire after Tweedy was spotted outside the venue, draped in a sheet, with only her silver shoes on show.

It has been reported that the newlyweds have signed a £1 million exclusive deal with OK! magazine for their wedding pictures.

A glittering cast from the worlds of football and showbiz was expected to attend.

Arsenal defender Cole, 25, rumoured to be on his way to Chelsea, was generally judged to have had a good World Cup, as did Tweedy, 23.

The singer with pop group Girls Aloud was one of the most prominent of the WAGs (Wives And Girlfriends), whose prodigious shopping and night-life exploits received almost as many column inches in the papers as their footballing partners did for their on-pitch performances.

The celebrations will give both Cole and Tweedy the opportunity to put a line under recent controversies.

Cole was fined last year by the Premier League for making contact with Chelsea without telling Arsenal and Tweedy was found guilty in 2003 of assault after an altercation in a Guildford nightclub. She was fined and ordered to do community service.

- REUTERS