Some believe this was the final straw that compelled him to go public about allegations of political impropriety.. HAVING SPENT his “last penny” trying to clear his name, Neil Hamilton was dependent on a fighting fund set up by right-leaning sympathisers. During the libel trial George Carman, Mr Fayed’s QC, was refused permission by the judge, Mr Justice Morland, to tell the jury that Mr Hamilton was being backed by “a group of millionaires”.
The “Neil Hamilton Fighting Fund” is run by Lord Harris of High Cross, a former president of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Norris McWhirter. During the 1985 sterling crisis, he approached the Sultan of Brunei and persuaded him to keep his money in Britain at a time when others were looking elsewhere.But despite all this, a British passport has still eluded him.The people considering his application were those, he alleged, who had vilified him in the Commons years before, during his takeover of the House of Fraser group. It is all a far cry from that humble Alexandria tenement block where he was raised before making his money in the construction industry and through brokerage.He claims to have given pounds 250,000 to Conservative Party funds and was a guest at Downing Street when Lady Thatcher was in office. The death of his son, Dodi, with Diana, Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris in 1997 did nothing to temper that feeling. If anything, it fuelled it.After a hearing in Paris, Mr Fayed emerged from the building and publicly accused Frances Shand-Kydd, Diana’s mother, of snobbery.During the libel trial, he challenged the Duke of Edinburgh from the witness box to sue him over allegations that he masterminded a plot to murder Diana and Dodi.Mr Fayed also accused Baroness Thatcher of throwing him “to the dogs” by ordering an inquiry into his takeover of Harrods as part of a conspiracy to “cover up” her son Mark’s arms dealings.The Egyptian enjoys massive wealth and many residences, including a fabulous country estate near Oxted, Surrey, to which he can travel in his Harrods- livery helicopter, as well as a penthouse in Park Lane.

He will not rest content until a Home Secretary comes along who is prepared to give him the one thing he yearns for more than anything else. Despite his breathless business acumen, his ability to mix with the right people, his wealth and his generosity, the prize of a UK passport has eluded him.Indeed, as some of his evidence during the trial disclosed, Mr Fayed appears to harbour an indelible grudge against Britain or, more precisely, its Establishment, believing that it has turned against him even though he has poured millions into the economy. V APPEARED TO be for vaudeville, as Mohamed Al Fayed’s appearance in the witness box descended into farce. In the end it was for victory as the Harrods owner scored a famous triumph over the Establishment. For it was the British Establishment that he will feel he defeated, as well as the totally dejected figure of the former Tory corporate affairs minister, Neil Hamilton.
Despite Mr Justice Morland’s view that he was a man whose “appreciation of what is fact and what is fiction and what is truth and what is fantasy is warped”, Mr Fayed won. And winning was everything.An elated Mr Fayed now wants to use the High Court victory to drive his campaign for a British passport. They became more concerned when Mr Hamilton, at his pounds 700,000 home in Tatton and pounds 300,000 flat in Battersea, south London, began to talk about trying to regain the candidacy at Tatton where George Osborne, Mr Hague’s speechwriter, confidant and ally, has already been selected.Mr Hamilton lost a stone and a half to get “fighting fit” for his court battle, and talked about having “his finger on the trigger” and the “Phoney Pharaoh in his gunsight”..

Both wrote lighthearted books parodying themselves – on battleaxes and scandals.Mr and Mrs Hamilton, who married during the 1983 general election campaign, were photographed in a Sunday tabloid offering themselves for hire as a cook and butler, and they offered themselves as holiday replacements for Richard and Judy on their This Morning television show.The high Tories at the Carlton Club shuddered, the Hamiltons were accused of cashing in on their notoriety and becoming comic music-hall turns. He had won a libel action against the BBC in the past with help from rich right-wing sympathisers, and he turned to them again. They set up a fund for the legal fight, guided by a belief that Mr Hamilton had been treated badly by Sir Gordon and the select committee, and also by a loathing of Mr Fayed.The couple, involved in furious wrangling with the media before the election, now seemed to embrace it. To Mr Hamilton this was simply abiding by collective cabinet responsibility To Mr Fayed it was gross betrayal The MP, he would now snarl, was “a homosexual prostitute”. A vengeful Mr Fayed “shopped” Mr Hamilton and other MPs who had helped him, starting a wave of sleaze stories.An inquiry by Sir Gordon Downey, the Parliamentary Commissioner, found Mr Hamilton had probably taken cash from Mr Fayed for questions, and this view was confirmed by the Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges, which scathingly criticised the MP for Tatton.Against the wishes of the party hierarchy, he decided to defend his seat against Martin Bell, the white-clothed anti-sleaze candidate, providing the media with a feast. Mr Hamilton lost.He could have backed out of the public gaze then But his hubris would not let him.