Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas will appear personally at the High Court later this month to give evidence in their battle with Hello! magazine.

The couple are suing the magazine for millions of pounds for publishing "surreptitious" photographs of their wedding in New York in November 2000.

Their move followed a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal, which for the first time recognised that celebrities have rights to privacy.

The magazine had tried to win the rights for exclusive coverage of the wedding, offering �200,000.

'Powerful case'

This was turned down in favour of an offer from its rival OK!, which had made a �1m deal with the couple.

Hello! published three days earlier than OK! with its own "exclusive" photographs of the stars, sparking the court action.

The couple won a High Court order banning further sales of the edition, but this was lifted by the Court of Appeal.

The couple then decided to seek damages from the magazine, with the Court of Appeal also ruling that they were likely to be able to prove at trial that publication of the photographs should not have been allowed.

The judges then said the pair had a "powerful case" that they had a right to privacy at the wedding where guests and workers had been told not to take any photos and the media told to stay away.

Stress

Zeta Jones and Douglas are expected to tell the court that they had suffered stress and loss of income from syndication rights.

They will also say their professional careers were damaged because the photographs published by Hello! were of poor quality.

The couple's wedding was held a the Grand Ballroom of the New York Plaza Hotel and was reported to have cost between �1.2m and �1.5m

The bride's entire family were flown from Wales to New York in a private jet, at a reported cost of �100,000.

The dress was designed by David Emanuel, co-creator of Princess Diana's wedding gown.