In this pic: Jade Goody

This was something we were all expecting to happen soon, it was just a case of when.

Today I felt compelled like so many to report on the sad news that Jade Goody has died.

The Reality television star passed away in her sleep around 3.55am early Sunday morning aged just 27, exactly one month after she married Jack Tweed, in a ceremony surrounded by friends and family.

Jack, her mum Jackie Budden, and close family friend Kevin Adams were at her side at her home in Upshire, Essex.

The Sunday newspapers are reporting that the dying star had been in a coma-like state for two days prior to her death.

Goody, a former dental nurse from south London shot to fame on Britain’s Big Brother reality television programme in 2002.

According to news sources Jade’s mother watched in her pajamas as a hearse took her daughter’s body away shortly before 0800 GMT.

Jackie told reporters on the scene:

“After a very public battle with cervical cancer Jade died at 3.55am this morning. Family and friends would like some privacy – at last.”

In this pic: Jade Goody

Jade’s final weeks were lived out in the same way as her life had been since Big Brother – under an intense media glare.

Ionically, the mother-of-two received her cancer diagnosis while appearing on the Indian version of the reality show that had originally shot her to stardom, she then decided very early on that she would fight her battle with the disease publicly to create more awareness of cervical cancer and to earn as much money as possible from the press so that she could provide for her children after her death.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, today led the tributes to Jade Goody, he said: “She was a courageous woman both in life and death and the whole country have admired her determination to provide a bright future for her children.”

Jade’s funeral was “meticulously” planned by the reality star before her death, according to her publicist Max Clifford, who promised recently, “It will be a Jade Goody Production”.

Though no official date has been set for the funeral, sources say that it is likely to take place within the next 10 days.

Mourners began arriving at the house to pay tribute to the star within minutes of the news breaking, leaving floral tributes at the gates of her home.

R.I.P Jade x