By Adrian Shaw The Mirror

Catherine Zeta-Jones told yesterday how her dream wedding was ruined by a photographer who took sneak pictures of the private event.

The 33-year-old actress said she broke down in tears and felt violated at discovering paparazzi snaps of her tying the knot with Michael Douglas had been sold to Hello! magazine.

And the move scuppered a £1million deal the couple signed with the journal's bitter rivals, OK!

Catherine complained the Hello! pictures were poor quality and made her look big, which could blight her image as an actress.

She also told how she felt like the prey of snappers who act like "big game hunters" to track her down.

Catherine was making her long-awaited appearance in the High Court witness box for her and Michael's £500,000 privacy action against Hello!

The eight-month pregnant Chicago star told of the moment she found out about the rogue pictures, by photographer Rupert Thorpe - son of former Liberal leader Jeremy.

She said: "I remember sitting on the phone crying about the way our memories of the wedding, which had seemed so wonderful, had soured.

"The poor quality of the pictures was what any bride would hate to have. It was cheap and tacky and everything I didn't want to have shown as being part of my big day.

"Michael and I were devastated. It was an appalling and very upsetting shock to discover that our wedding had been invaded in that way.

"Our peace and happiness evaporated. I felt violated and that something precious has been stolen from me. Our distress and anger at what Hello! did continues to this day.

"It was awful for me to have to think about this so soon after our beautiful wedding. I was suddenly thrown from the quiet, peace and joy of our time alone to anger and feelings of betrayal at Hello!

But cross-examined by Hello! QC James Price, Catherine conceded the OK! spread showed the couple's wedding night bedroom, complete with petals strewn from the door to the canopy of the bed. She said: "I will withdraw that accusation".

Hello! and OK! had been involved in a battle to secure the rights to the couple's November 2000 wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York. Thorpe breached tight security to take his pictures with a hidden camera.

The couple claim Hello! chiefs plotted the covert photo session "to spite us" after losing out on the deal to OK!

CATHERINE said she particularly objected to one Hello! picture which showed Michael putting a fork full of cake into her mouth.

It was repeated in a tabloid newspaper under the headline Catherine Eater Jones.

She added: "I wouldn't want a picture of my husband shoving food down my throat to be photographed. It looks as though all I did that day was eat."

However, the court heard the couple agreed a syndication deal under which the OK! pictures could be published in 23 magazines in 21 countries and one, in America's People magazine, showed her feeding Douglas wedding cake.

She said: "One was taken with our knowledge, the other was stolen. It has a hairy arm in the foreground and a flash covering the cake. One is legit. One is stolen."

Asked to look at a copy of Hello! containing the photographs, she described one which featured her father - who "was a very proud man that night" - as "very offensive".

Another looked as if it was "doused in bad disco lighting".

Catherine denied the OK! deal had been motivated by money.

There was laughter in court when Mr Price said the rights to his wedding were not sold for £1million. The actress replied: "I can understand." She went on: "I get well compensated in my job and my husband has had a long career and is successful. It is a lot of money to people in this room but it's not that much money for us."