EastEnders cast at Richard wedding

1:42pm Friday 10th October 2008

EastEnders cast members arrived at a luxury hotel ahead of Wendy Richard's wedding ceremony.

Richard is due to marry her long-term partner before beginning treatment for terminal cancer.

The ex-EastEnder brought the date of the ceremony forward after learning the devastating news that the disease had returned.

Richard's former screen son, Todd Carty, who played Mark Fowler, arrived outside the venue in London's Mayfair and smiled before entering the hotel.

Minutes later, Perry Fenwick, who plays Billy Mitchell, arrived and posed for the crowd of photographers before going inside.

Richard, who has beaten cancer twice previously, found the disease had returned to her left armpit during an annual check-up in January.

It has since spread to her right kidney and bones.

Around 60 family members and close friends are thought to be attending the civil ceremony and reception.

Richard has been with her partner, John Burns, who is 20 years her junior, for 13 years.

Her on-screen daughter-in-law, Natalie Cassidy, also attended. The actress' beloved dog, Lily, a two-year-old Cairn terrier who is the niece of Betty, Pauline Fowler's dog in EastEnders, will be a special guest.