Jermain Defoe gets married in £200k ceremony at venue of famous British scandal

Former England forward Jermain Defoe tied the knot with his beauty therapist beau in an incredible £200k ceremony at a stunning country house - home of the infamous Profumo affair.

The 39-year-old wed Donna Tierney at five-star Cliveden House in front of 250 guests on Saturday, including fellow football stars. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ledley King and Carlton Cole were all among the attendees. Mum-of-one Tierney looked elegant in a long white bridal dress with a plunging neckline, white sleeves and a traditional veil. She clutched a stunning bouquet of white flowers which perfectly contrasted Defoe's cream jacket and waistcoat.

The wedding took place in the 376 acre National Trust estate's floral garden in Berkshire where the couple exchanged vows on a stage surrounded by a 20ft wall of colourful flowers. It is a venue that is not usually open to visit for the public but viewers can buy tickets in advance.

Guests then enjoyed a reception which closed with a huge light display outside to mark Defoe and Tierney's wedding with the former Tottenham Hotspur striker starting his summer off in style.

This is the first time in over two decades that Defoe will not complete a pre-season after confirming his retirement in March. Defoe signed for Sunderland until the end of the season in January but hung up his boots after featuring just seven times for the Black Cats in League One. Over the course of his career, Defoe scored 162 top-flight goals and was awarded 57 England caps, scoring 20 goals, the most recent of which came in March 2017.

He was joined by some of his former teammates and close friends at the wedding, having played with King, Wright-Phillips and Cole throughout his career. Journeyman striker Leon Knight was also at the event as Defoe tied the knot with Tierney, who had partied in a luxury tree house near Durham for her hen do back in April.

The five-star Cliveden House is the notorious venue of the Profumo affair, where former war minister Jack Profumo started a relationship with Christine Keeler, just 19, in July 1961. It was one of the biggest political scandals in the 20th century.

The scandal is still ongoing, even after more than 50 years from it happening. The BBC aired a documentary called The Trial of Christine Keeler which showed dramatisation of the scandal. The central achievement of the series was to place three confident but exploited women - Keeler, Mandy Rice-Davies and John Profumo's wife, Valerie Hobson - at the heart of the story.

Despite the venue having that controversy to its name, Defoe chose it as the place to wed Tierney after spending almost a decade together. Ex-West Ham forward Cole wrote on Instagram that the 'beautiful' wedding's "vibes were correct".

Jermain proposed to Donna in August 2021 at the Blythswood Square Hotel, decorating the room with rose petals, heart shaped balloons, and the words 'Marry Me'. The diamond ring was said to have been worth tens of thousands of pounds.