Diana Settles With Gym’s Owner

Princess Diana has settled with a gym owner who secretly photographed her exercising and the newspapers that bought and published the pictures.

The out-of-court settlement, announced Wednesday, also includes an apology. Specific terms were not disclosed, but her lawyers said they include a donation to a charity Diana chooses.

The settlement allows Diana to avoid testifying at the High Court in London on Monday against Bryce Taylor and Mirror Group Newspapers PLC.

Taylor, a New Zealander, took the pictures of Diana wearing cycling shorts and a leotard and lying on an exercise machine at the LA Fitness Club in west London in 1993. He had hidden a camera in the ceiling.

Taylor had promised Diana in writing that her privacy would be respected.

The Daily Mirror tabloid and its weekly affiliate, the Sunday Mirror, published the pictures that November. Wednesday’s settlement includes a ban on reprints and destruction of all copies and negatives.

Diana, 33, formally separated from Prince Charles in December 1992. Her spokesman, Geoff Crawford, accompanying her on a visit to Japan, said she was “very pleased” by the settlement.

Taylor declined comment.