Zeta 'feared media intrusion'

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas were determined their New York wedding would be "nothing like" David and Victoria Beckham's "glitzy" event, and were paranoid that their big day would be infiltrated by the media, the High Court heard today.

The Hollywood couple were paid £1 million by OK! magazine for exclusive pictures of their wedding in November 2000. The Beckhams agreed a similar deal for their July 1999 ceremony in Ireland - during which the England captain and former Spice girl sat on thrones.

Today Martin Townsend, then editor of OK!, said Douglas's PR manager Allen Burry had given specific instructions: "He stressed the Douglas wedding-would be nothing like the Beckham wedding. It was going to be a private family event and coverage should reflect that."

But one advantage the Beckhams had over Douglas and Zeta-Jones was their photos did not require digital computer "retouching", he added.

The court also heard today how one of the couple's greatest fears was that the media could infiltrate their wedding and ruin the big day.

From the outset of the planning of the £1.2 million ceremony at the Plaza Hotel in New York, an extraordinary security operation was devised to keep out unwanted visitors, Mr Justice Lindsay was told.

Simone Martel, who planned the wedding day, told the judge via a video link from New York that one of the most complicated and most expensive aspects of the big day were the security arrangements.

It involved three security companies, the New York Police Department and the city's fire department.

"We worked on the basis that paranoia is the mother of survival and tried to plan for as many contingencies as possible," she told the court.

Yesterday, Catherine Zeta-Jones told the judge how she had been "devastated" when she learnt that unauthorised pictures of her big day were to appear in the press.

She and Michael Douglas are suing Hello! for £500,000, claiming their privacy was breached when six unauthorised wedding pictures appeared in the magazine. OK! is suing Hello! for £1.75 million.

The case continues.