Harrods: End of Era

11/23/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Queen Elizabeth is going to withdraw her long-standing endorsement of London's Harrods department store next year, and her lawyers may sue the luxury store's boss, Mohamed Al Fayed, over allegations against her husband, the Sunday Telegraph said. The paper cited officials close to the Queen as saying the Royal Family's lawyers are studying Fayed's claims that Prince Philip masterminded the death of Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash with a view to suing him for defamation. Fayed maintains that Diana and her lover, his son Dodi, were killed in a conspiracy. He has challenged Prince Philip to sue him. In related news, the Queen has canceled her annual $14,500 order of Harrods Christmas puddings that she gives to her staff, buying them instead from a local supermarket.