Fayed quits Britain for Switzerland after tax row

Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods and Fulham FC, announced last night that he had left Britain for self-imposed exile in Switzerland.

For a man who has spent much of the past 20 years trying to secure a British passport, his departure was a low-key event marked by a simple statement from his Knightsbridge store.

He decided to leave the country after losing a legal battle with the Inland Revenue to retain his special tax status, which allowed him to pay just £240,000 a year.

The Egyptian-born millionaire said he had succumbed to attacks by the "Establishment", which he claims was behind the Paris car crash that killed his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales. "The recent grossly unfair treatment at the hand of the Inland Revenue finally convinced me ... the time has come to leave," he said. "I will be spending a little less time physically in the British business but I will continue to play an active role."