The board seem to have moved away from their grandiose ideas of making Fulham the " Manchester United of the south " as Al-Fayed has come to realise how expensive it is to subsidise a Premiership outfit.

With Al-Fayed selling his Harrods department store for £ 1. 5 billion it is reasonable to presume that some of this money which has kick-started this larger scale plan into life.

From an initial twelve acres, Al-Fayed has since built the estate up to sixty five thousand acres.

It is currently owned by the millionaire Egyptian proprietor Mohammed Al-Fayed of the Harrods department store who has put a lot of money into improving the estate and restoring the castle.

Clifford has since represented various clients, including: David Copperfield ; Mohamed Al-Fayed ; Simon Cowell ; brain-damaged boxer Michael Watson ; Liverpool left-wing politician Derek Hatton, for whom Clifford created an affair in order to change his image ; former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson ; Norfolk farmer Tony Martin, who was imprisoned for fatally shooting a burglar ; Rebecca Loos, when she negotiated with the press about her alleged affair with England football captain David Beckham ; Cheryl Cole ; Celebrity Big Brother 2007 winner Shilpa Shetty ; and Jade Goody, in the period of the reality star's cervical cancer and death.

A spokesman for Al-Fayed said " in reaching the decision to retire, wished to ensure that the legacy and traditions that he has built up in Harrods would be continued.

The sculpture was created by 80 year old Bill Mitchell who is a close friend of Al-Fayed and has been the artistic design advisor to Harrods for 40 years.

The fall of communism has seen him fall from prominence, with the exception of his alleged involvement in a scheme run by self-professed former CIA operatives to defraud Mohammed Al-Fayed with false documents that would support his conspiracy theories about the death of Princess Diana.

* Since the 1970s businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed has lived at Barrow Green Court and farm near Oxted.

Pell ( or documents he has found ) have been involved in several court cases, including ones involving Elton John, All Saints and the ' cash for questions ' libel case between Mohamed Al-Fayed and Neil Hamilton.

Ali Al-Fayed has interests in Harrods, which he bought in 1985, and the Hôtel Ritz Paris, bought in 1979.

Ali Al-Fayed has a British-born wife and three British children .< ref >

Fulham lost a legal case against former manager Tigana in 2004 after Al-Fayed had wrongly alleged that Tigana had overpaid more than £ 7m for new players and had negotiated transfers in secret.

Lord Harris of High Cross ( who helped to finance Hamilton's failed libel action against Mohammed Al-Fayed 13 years later ), also raised approximately £ 100, 000.

Fulham, at the time in the Second Division, were financed by wealthy businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, and were able to spend a record transfer fee for the division of over £ 2 million for Coleman in late 1997.

The Guardians story alleged that Al-Fayed had approached the paper and accused Ian Greer of paying Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith to table parliamentary questions on his behalf at £ 2000 per question.

Al Tajir informed Al-Fayed that Dubai was penniless and needed to borrow £ 1 million for the future construction of modern harbour facilities.

Al-Fayed secured a loan of £ 9 million from Imre Rochlitz, an American lawyer.

Al-Fayed earned £ 1. 5 million commission from the contract for British engineering company Costain to carry out the improvement works to the port.

By the mid 1970s Costain had gained over £ 280 million of contracts thanks to Al-Fayed and Al Tajir.

Wheatly sold Viva AM which was losing £ 100, 000 a month before the sale for £ 3 million to Mohamed Al-Fayed as part of his cost-cutting plans.

* Dodi Al-Fayed ( 1955 – 1997 ), film producer, ( original burial site, subsequently moved to the Al-Fayed estate in Surrey )

As an Egyptian with links to Scotland, Al-Fayed was intrigued enough to fund a 2008 reprint of the 15th century chronicle Scotichronicon by Walter Bower.

The Highlands of Scotland tourist board awarded Al-Fayed the " Freedom of the Highlands " in 2002, in recognition of his " outstanding contribution and commitment to the highlands ".

In 2009 Al-Fayed revealed that he was in favour of a wage cap for footballers, and criticised the management of The Football Association and Premier League as " run by donkeys who don't understand business, who are dazzled by money.

I run a business and I need to take bloody fucking trustee's permission to take my profit " Al-Fayed was appointed honorary chairman of Harrods, a position he will hold for at least six months.

Describing the warrants as a " curse ", Al-Fayed claimed that business had tripled since their removal.

I wanted to jump up and start dancing "; and was friends with club chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, who commissioned the statue.

The latter spell was associated with chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, after the club had climbed up from the fourth tier in the 1990s.

Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (, Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Munʻim al-Fāyad ; born 27 January 1933 ) is an Egyptian businessman.

Al-Fayed bought the freehold of West London professional football club Fulham F. C.

This meant that Al-Fayed had achieved his objective of Fulham being a Premiership club a year ahead of schedule.

There were fears that Fulham would not return to the Cottage, after it was revealed that Al-Fayed had sold the first right to build on the ground to a property development firm.

In May 2007 Al-Fayed said he was interested in helping Scottish football team Ross County, following their relegation.

A statue of Michael Jackson was unveiled by Al-Fayed in April 2011 at Fulham's Craven Cottage stadium.

Following criticisms of the statue, Al-Fayed said " If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift this guy gave to the world they can go to hell.

Mafco Holdings is owned by Al-Fayed and his family.

By 2011, Al-Fayed had loaned Fulham F. C.

* In Paris, Diana, Princess of Wales and her friend, Dodi Al-Fayed, were killed in a car accident in August 1997, when their chauffeured, hired Mercedes-Benz S-Class crashed in the Pont de l ' Alma tunnel.

The chauffeur, Henri Paul died at the scene, as did Al-Fayed.

Diana and an Al-Fayed bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived the accident.

* April 15 – Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman ( d. 1997 )