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The wedding plans of Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez remained a mystery today after their rumoured marriage ceremony in a Madeira cathedral turned out to be for another couple.

The 41-year-old legendary Portuguese footballer and his model fiancée Georgina, 32, had been heavily tipped to be due to tie the knot in a ceremony at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Funchal, the capital of the island where he was born and grew up.

But as a crowd of more than 2,000 people gathered to watch the nuptials and film the expected celebrity guests on their mobile phones, it quickly became apparent that the couple were not getting married there at all.

The ceremony turned out to be for an entirely unconnected Portuguese couple from Madeira called Fabio Ramos and Fatima Nicole Cunha Teixeira who live in France and had returned to the island to get married.

Fans of Cristiano including many wearing number 7 football shirts bearing his name began flocking to the square outside the Cathedral amid a swirl of suggestions on social media that the superstar was getting married at the 15th century venue.

Friends of the groom and bridesmaids who arrived separately in a vintage VW camper van had to fight their way through the crowd to get into the Cathedral, as the crowds waited excitedly for Cristiano to appear

One member of the wedding party said: 'Fabio is not Cristiano Ronaldo. This is all crazy. We did not expect anything like this. I don't think, he is going to forget his wedding in a hurry.'

The atmosphere in the crowd reached fever-pitch when a vintage grey Rolls Royce arrived in the square to drop Fatima off for the ceremony after earlier setting off from the nearby Savoy Palace hotel.

The rumoured marriage ceremony between footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez in a Madeira cathedral turned out to be for another couple (pictured)

A crowd of more than 2,000 people gathered to watch the nuptials - which was for an entirely unconnected Portuguese couple from Madeira

A vintage grey Rolls Royce arrived in the square to drop the bride off for the ceremony after earlier setting off from the nearby Savoy Palace hotel

Fans of Cristiano including many wearing number 7 football shirts bearing his name began flocked to the square amid suggestions on social media he was to marry there

Ronaldo and Georgina had been heavily tipped to be due to tie the knot in a ceremony at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Funchal, the capital of the island where he was born and grew up

Hundreds of people thronged around the car with their mobile phones aloft, including some wearing Cristiano Ronaldo face masks, as she sat impassively in the back, forcing the vehicle to come to a halt.

A member of the wedding party tried to deter the crowd, shouting: 'This is not Georgina' as people surged forward to get a glimpse of her.

Eventually, her bridesmaids who were in purple dresses and other friends of the groom managed to push people back and clear a path for her to walk to the Cathedral entrance in her flowing white dress.

Father Marcos Gonçalves, the parish priest of the Cathedral who married the couple, said: 'I can tell you that they are nothing to do with Cristiano Ronaldo. This is the only wedding taking place here today.'

The priest added that he did not believe the footballer had booked the Cathedral for any wedding date in the future.

Rumours about when and where Cristiano plans to tie the knot with Georgina have abounded ever since the couple who famously met when she was working as a Gucci sales assistant in Madrid, got engaged in August last year.

Viral social media reports claimed that they would marry on August 1 this year at the historic Quinta da Regaleira palace in Sintra, Portugal.

But the claims which surfaced after a fake invite circulated on Portuguese TV were debunked by prominent outlets like HOLA! magazine, which noted that the estate remained open to tourists on the touted day.

Rumours about when and where Cristiano plans to tie the knot with Georgina have abounded ever since the couple who famously met when she was working as a Gucci sales assistant in Madrid

Ronaldo popped the question with a giant diamond ring to Georgina last August

Attention then switched to Madeira as it was claimed that Cristiano would marry in the Cathedral today before a lavish reception on top two floors of the Savoy Palace hotel which he had booked exclusively for himself.

Rumours were fuelled by the suggestions that Cristiano was trying to get his wedding out of the way before next week which sees the start of the new football season in Saudi Arabia where he plays for Al-Nassr.

Cristiano and Georgina have been enjoying an extended break in Europe, holidaying in Majorca, since he returned from the World Cup in the US following Portugal's 1-0 defeat by Spain in the final 16 round.

Assurances by staff at the Cathedral in Madeira who insisted that the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus striker was not getting married there, did little to dampen the frenzied speculation.

The Cathedral had been open to the public as usual this morning with hundreds of tourists and other visitors pouring through the doors to admire its historic and ornamental interior.

It closed as usual at noon for cleaning before guests started to arrive for the wedding.

Cristiano famously met Georgina in 2016 when he strolled into the Gucci boutique in Madrid where she was working as a £10 an hour sales assistant.

The pair have two biological children, though she helps raise all five of his kids

Georgina was working at a Gucci store in Madrid, earning £10 an hour, when her life changed forever in 2016

She had been meant to leave earlier that day, but was asked to stay 30 minutes late to help a VIP client who turned out to be the superstar footballer.

Georgina later told how she had 'butterflies in my stomach' on their first meeting and they started dating.

Many years later, she recalled on her Netflix series I Am Georgina how she would arrive at work on the bus and would then be picked up by Ronaldo in his £1.5million Bugatti.

Georgia quit her job in December 2016 shortly after fans began crowding outside the store, hoping to see Cristiano who was then playing for Real Madrid.

The following month, the pair made their first public appearance at The Best FIFA Football Awards, confirming speculation that they were an item.

They made their Instagram debut as a couple in March 2017 when the footballer posted a sweet snap of them cuddling on a couch, captioning the post with a single red heart emoji.

In June 2017, they welcomed Cristiano's twins Mateo and Eva via surrogacy and then five months later.

Then the next month, they announced that Georgina was pregnant, and she gave birth to their daughter Alana Martina in November.

In April 2022, Georgina gave birth to twins, but baby boy Ángel tragically died during childbirth, while his sister, Bella Esmeralda, survived

The following month, Georgina posed for photos with her newborn daughter for the cover of HOLA!

Georgina gave birth to twins in April 2022, but their baby boy Ángel tragically died during childbirth, while his sister, Bella Esmeralda, survived.

Opening up about how he and Georgina coped with the heartache of losing a baby, the footballer told Piers Morgan at the time: 'I feel that we always support each other. Sometimes it's like in a relationship you have good moments, bad moments it is part of the journey.

'But probably in that period, we consolidated it more, the relationship, but even in the worst moments you have to meet, you have to make the thing smooth.

'I learned so many things. I saw the other perspective of the life. My daughter, now which is three years old, she is the queen of the family, who made the house happy. Everything happens for a reason. I believe in that. So, we are a blessed family. I am proud of that.'

After nearly a decade together, fans were then desperate to know when Georgina and Cristiano would marry, with their family now complete.

However, in an interview with Marca last year, the footballer admitted he hadn't yet married Georgina because he hadn't felt the 'click'.

He said: 'I always tell her, 'when we get that click.' Like everything with our life, and she knows what I'm talking about.

'It could be in a year or it could be in six months or it could be in a month. I'm 1000% sure that it'll happen.'

In August last year, the footballer finally popped the question with a giant diamond ring, valued by experts at an astonishing £1.5million.

Georgina gleefully shared the news on Instagram by posing a photo of her glitzy engagement ring.

The picture showing her hand next to Ronaldo's hand on a bed had a heartfelt caption in her native Spanish, saying: 'Yes I do. In this and in all my lives.'

Fans had speculated that the pair got engaged the previous month after the model shared pictures of a bridal-themed dinner, complete with 'C heart G' pillows, a six-piece band and stunning white flower arrangements.

Cristiano later revealed that two of his children inspired him to give Georgina a 'not-so romantic' and off-the-cuff proposal.

He stated that he didn't plan to propose to the 'woman of his life' the night they got engaged, but it felt like the 'right time'.

'It was like 1am. My daughters were in bed sleeping,' the 41-year-old told Piers Morgan in part one of their new interview.

He said: 'One of my friends gave me the ring to offer Gio (Georgina) and as I was giving her the ring, my two kids come in and say 'Daddy, you're going to give the ring to mum and you're going to ask her to get married.

'I said, 'Wow, this is the right moment to say yes.' It was the time. I knew that I was going to do it one day but I hadn't planned to do it then.

'Because my daughters said that and my friends were filming, it was what I wanted and I offered (the ring). I didn't (get on one knee) because I wasn't prepared, but it was a beautiful moment. I made a speech.

'It was simple, I'm not a very romantic guy. Well, I am, but I'm not very romantic, not the kind of guy who brings flowers every week to the home. But I'm romantic in my way. It was beautiful and I knew that it's the woman of my life, so I did that and I hope that I did it well.'

Asked about when they planned to tie the knot, the footballer joked: 'Not yet. We plan to do it after the World Cup with the trophy! But she is not the person that likes big parties. She doesn't like it. She likes private things. So I will respect these decisions.

'One thing that I love, she didn't care about the ring. She asked me if I was honest and I said, 'I want you and I want to marry you.' I didn't cry but I had tears on my eyes.'