-Caveat Lector- from:alt.conspiracy.princess-diana As, always, Caveat Lector Om K ----- Click Here: <A HREF="aol://5863:126/alt.conspiracy.princess-diana:33868">Hamil ton's mystery backer revealed</A> ----- Subject: Hamilton's mystery backer revealed From: "Liberius" <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED] unet.cy</A> Date: Wed, 22 December 1999 06:35 PM EST Message-id: <mfd84.4149$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [According to 'The National Wealth' by Dominic Hobson (HarperCollins), the Earl of Portsmouth's present wealth is estimated to be 45 million pounds] HAMILTON'S MYSTERY BACKER REVEALED Wednesday, December 22, 1999; 22:18 UK Press Association Lord Portsmouth was tonight revealed as the peer who helped bankroll Neil Hamilton's doomed libel action against Mohamed Al Fayed. The man who set up the fighting fund, Lord Harris of High Cross, told PA News: "Yes, that's right. Lord Portsmouth was one of the biggest contributors to the fighting fund. "He is a well known supporter and he's come forward now. He was the mystery man we called Q because we didn't want to use his name at all. "Of course his real name's Quentin so the whole thing's rather splendid."Lord Portsmouth, 45, who does not take any party political whip or sit on the cross benches in the Upper House, now risks being targeted by Mr Al Fayed's lawyers as they pursue the Harrods' owners costs. Mr Hamilton faces costs amounting to more than £2 million following his failed attempt to clear his name of accepting payments from the tycoon and today said that, even after selling his two homes, he will not be able to raise enough to cover them. Supporters of Mr Hamilton raised a £400,000 fighting fund to help him bring the case, and High Court judge Mr Justice Morland yesterday gave him 28 days to hand over to Mr Al Fayed's lawyers a list of anyone who gave more than £5,000, so that they too can be pursued for costs. Eton and Millfield educated, Lord Portsmouth's family title dates back to 1743 and the family seat is at Farleigh House in Farleigh Wallop, Basingstoke, Hampshire. Twice married, he has a son and two daughters, and lists in the register of Lords' interests that he is a director and shareholder of Grainger Trust plc, landowner, farmer and property investor.Lord Portsmouth - Quentin Gerard Carew Wallop - was a "very independent and outstanding chap" and his motivation was "to even up the balance between this very rich Mr Al Fayed and Mr Hamilton", said Lord Harris. He added: "I don't know what will happen next, but hopefully nothing over Christmas because we're going to switch off for a week to 10 days." Reports today suggested that other possible donors to the fund included columnist and playboy Taki Theodoracopulos, author and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth and ex-Guinness Book of Records editor Norris McWhirter. Mr Hamilton said today that he felt like a "broken man" and would have to sell his £700,000 home in Cheshire and his flat in Battersea, south London, to make even a dent on his legal bills. He said: "I put everything I owned in the world to fund this legal action and I couldn't have done it without the additional support that I had from hundreds of very public-spirited individuals. "I made the calculation myself that I was prepared to put everything I have spent my whole life working for into the pot in order to clear my name. "I personally will have literally nothing left. "If I had known what was going to result in 1999, I would have drawn stumps in 1995 when I was stopped from taking my first libel case against the Guardian. Then at least I would have preserved my life savings. "But I had to fight on to clear my name and so I don't regret doing that, even though we have lost at the end of the day." Mr Hamilton admitted he had been "humbled" by the court, but added: "Thousands of people don't believe that the result of yesterday's case was right and they are right not to believe it. "Juries can make mistakes and we know there have been lots of miscarriages of justice in the past. "I am not protesting and kicking and screaming about it. I know that the system has worked against me and I am sure that the members of the jury have in all good faith reached the decision they have after a lot of heart searching. "I am not blaming them in any way but the fact of the matter is that they have made a mistake." Mr Hamilton said he had to accept that it was the end of the line in terms of the legal battle and now look for another direction in life. But he said his first task was to find a way to earn a living. "The practical reality is that I have to earn a living and the options are obviously not very wide so I have to explore what avenues there are." Mr Hamilton's wife Christine said that the couple, while "devastated", were far from despairing. She said: "We've got the most important things in life. We've got each other, we've got the truth, we've got wonderfully supportive families, both of us, and we have the most unbelievable group of friends, and we've got our health, even when we've lost our house and we're bankrupt. "We can survive." Conservative leader William Hague said that as far as he and his party were concerned, the Hamilton affair was now closed. "I think everybody feels human sympathy for people in these situations, but it is a very sad and tragic episode that did great damage to the party, to my party, and now it is over, and it is over, and now we have to move on. "It is in the past, it is of the past, and that is it." © Press Association ===== Subject: Hamilton legal bill soars; MAF repeats crash claim From: "Liberius" <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED] unet.cy</A> Date: Wed, 22 December 1999 03:56 PM EST Message-id: <IWa84.4118$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hamilton legal bill soars ================== Wednesday, 22 December, 1999, 15:19 GMT <A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_575000/575314.stm">http:// news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_575000/575314.stm</A> The wife of the disgraced former MP Neil Hamilton has revealed the costs of bringing their failed libel case is far higher than first estimated. The legal bill facing the couple had been put at £1m, but Christine Hamilton said it would be several times that amount. They face financial ruin because they will have to cover both their own costs and those of their adversary Mohamed al-Fayed. "Our own costs are over a million pounds, so goodness knows what his are," Mrs Hamilton said on Wednesday. "We are talking about a couple of million at least." The 500 people who gave money to the Hamiltons' "fighting fund" could also face demands for cash towards the legal bill, it has emerged. The trial judge ordered the names of those who contributed more than £5,000 must be passed to Mr al-Fayed's lawyers within 28 days. Mr al-Fayed said he would "punish" his opponents' backers by forcing them to pay any costs Mr Hamilton is unable to meet, as the law allows. 'I'm a broken man' ------------------------- Mr Hamilton on Wednesday admitted he was a broken man who had lost everything after the jury found he did corruptly take cash from the Harrods boss. In his first interview after the unanimous jury verdict against him, Mr Hamilton told the BBC he would have to sell his Cheshire home, estimated to be worth about £700,000. He paid tribute to those who supported him and maintained his innocence. "I put everything I had in the world on the line to fund this legal action and I couldn't have done it without the additional support that I had from hundreds and hundreds of individuals, many of them of very modest means who thought they were fighting for a principle of justice," he said. "I personally will have literally nothing left." Conservative leader William Hague offered scant support for the couple when he was quizzed about the case. "It's settled now and that's the end of it," he said. But others within the Tory party who donated to Mr Hamilton's fund are realising the fallout from the case is not yet over. However, the fund's organiser, Lord Harris of High Cross, said he would not be able to provide a full list of those who gave money. He said the "informal and amateur way" he had raised about half a million pounds would make this impossible. "Money came in, 500 responses up and down the country but the amounts varied from postal orders or even £5 notes to thousands of pounds," he said. "The majority of people did not want their names to be involved and they contributed in confidence and I don't see how it would be honourable for me to start trying to recollect the names and the amounts they gave me. "My records are extremely scrappy and I would not be able to assemble an accurate list." About 40 Conservative MPs are believed to have given money to Mr Hamilton's fund. Fayed repeats crash claim ------------------------------------- For his part, Mr al-Fayed defended his integrity over many questions about his own conduct - not least the fact the jury verdict confirms he did bribe Members of Parliament. "I don't need to corrupt anybody, I do my business with a lot of conscience, a lot of principle, a lot of honesty," he said. Speaking on BBC Two's Newsnight, he repeated the claim he made in court that the Duke of Edinburgh and the British secret service were behind the deaths of his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales. He said he did not care if repeating the allegation meant his Harrods store lost its Royal Warrant. "What the hell is the value of a Royal Warrant? I'm not in need of a Royal Warrant. If they take it away it's no problem to me. I don't need their support, I have the support of the masses." © BBC Subject: Hamilton brought problems on himself - Downey From: "Liberius" <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED] unet.cy</A> Date: Wed, 22 December 1999 03:25 PM EST Message-id: <Hsa84.4114$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> HAMILTON BROUGHT PROBLEMS UPON HIMSELF - DOWNEY Wednesday, December 22, 1999; 18:52 UK Press Association Neil Hamilton brought his problems "upon himself", former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Sir Gordon Downey declared tonight. Sir Gordon insisted he would not gloat over Mr Hamilton's defeat in his libel action against Mohamed Al Fayed. But he said: "I'm pleased that my judgment was vindicated by the view of the jury in a court case. "It doesn't seem to me that it's a matter for gloating but I do think this has been the right result and I think he's brought these problems upon himself." Two years ago Sir Gordon's probe into the cash for questions affair concluded there was "compelling evidence" Mr Hamilton had accepted payments from Harrods boss Mr Al Fayed - a finding backed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges. Sir Gordon told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that "to some extent" the trial "has satisfied what Mr Hamilton certainly saw as a need because I think he was not wholly confident in the procedures adopted for a parliamentary committee and agreed by Parliament". He rejected suggestions that if there had been a right of appeal against the Committee's findings Mr Hamilton may have avoided the lengthy and costly legal proceedings that ended in his ruin yesterday. "Of course there were a number of allegations made against Neil Hamilton and most of the committee had no doubt about the conclusions that I had reached. "By the time the committee looked at the matter Mr Hamilton was no longer a Member of Parliament so they were able to reach a conclusion of their own which was that his conduct had been unacceptable without having to pursue this particular matter further."Asked if Mr Hamilton had "got what was coming to him" by his court defeat, Sir Gordon replied: "Well I'm afraid so, yes." No evidence which came out in the case made him wish he had asked Mr Hamilton any other questions. "Obviously the new factor in the court case was the emphasis given to the Mobil payments but of course that was not part of my remit. "My remit was to investigate certain allegations and that wasn't among the allegations that I was set up to investigate. "I think from memory I was aware - I think he told me - that he had a consultancy with Mobil but there had been no allegations at that time either from Mr Al Fayed or The Guardian or anyone else that this was in some way an improper relationship." Sir Gordon said when the Mobil payments came out in court "I thought it was a significant factor but I didn't think it was crucial to the outcome of the case." Asked whether the system was now robust enough to prevent a future cash for questions affair, Sir Gordon said he believed MPs were "very much more conscious of their obligations and I believe the standards of the House are higher as a result". © Press Association ----- Subject: Mystery peer helped finance Hamilton's libel action From: "Liberius" <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED] unet.cy</A> Date: Wed, 22 December 1999 01:09 PM EST Message-id: <4u884.4100$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> MYSTERY PEER HELPED FINANCE HAMILTON'S LIBEL ACTION Wednesday, December 22, 1999; 16:47 UK Press Association The hunt was on today for the mysterious Q - not the legendary quartermaster of the James Bond stories, but an anonymous peer of the realm who allegedly bankrolled Neil Hamilton's doomed libel action against Mohamed Al Fayed. Mr Hamilton faces costs amounting to more than £2 million following his failed attempt to clear his name of accepting bribes from the Harrods tycoon and today said that, even after selling his two homes, he will not be able to raise enough to cover them. Supporters of Mr Hamilton raised a £400,000 fighting fund to help him bring the case, and High Court judge Mr Justice Morland yesterday gave him 28 days to hand over to Mr Al Fayed's lawyers a list of anyone who gave more than £5,000, so that they too can be pursued for costs. Today, the man who set up the fighting fund, Lord Harris of High Cross, refused to name those who had contributed, saying it would be "dishonourable" to do so as he had told them their involvement would be confidential. But he gave an enigmatic hint that one of the biggest backers was a peer codenamed Q. Lord Harris told the BBC: "Q is a peer of the realm, and I christened him Q. "He offered out of the blue to help the action, and I said I shall call you Q. He replied 'Well that's quite good, because my name is Quentin, my friends do call me Q'. "He is a very independent and outstanding chap and I have told him to keep quiet, because he will attract a lot of attention." Q was said to be preparing to reveal his identity with a letter to a national newspaper. Reports today suggested that other possible donors to the fund included columnist and playboy Taki Theodoracopulos, author and ex-Tory MP Gyles Brandreth and ex-Guinness Book of Records editor Norris McWhirter. Mr Hamilton said today that he felt like a "broken man" and would have to sell his £700,000 home in Cheshire and his flat in Battersea, south London, to make even a dent on his legal bills. He said: "I put everything I owned in the world to fund this legal action and I couldn't have done it without the additional support that I had from hundreds of very public-spirited individuals. "I made the calculation myself that I was prepared to put everything I have spent my whole life working for into the pot in order to clear my name. "I personally will have literally nothing left. "If I had known what was going to result in 1999, I would have drawn stumps in 1995 when I was stopped from taking my first libel case against the Guardian. Then at least I would have preserved my life savings. "But I had to fight on to clear my name and so I don't regret doing that, even though we have lost at the end of the day." Mr Hamilton admitted he had been "humbled" by the court, but added: "Thousands of people don't believe that the result of yesterday's case was right and they are right not to believe it. "Juries can make mistakes and we know there have been lots of miscarriages of justice in the past. "I am not protesting and kicking and screaming about it. I know that the system has worked against me and I am sure that the members of the jury have in all good faith reached the decision they have after a lot of heart searching. "I am not blaming them in any way but the fact of the matter is that they have made a mistake." Mr Hamilton said he had to accept that it was the end of the line in terms of the legal battle and now look for another direction in life. But he said his first task was to find a way to earn a living. "The practical reality is that I have to earn a living and the options are obviously not very wide so I have to explore what avenues there are." Mr Hamilton's wife Christine told Talk Radio that the couple, while "devastated", were far from despairing. She said: "We've got the most important things in life. We've got each other, we've got the truth, we've got wonderfully supportive families, both of us, and we have the most unbelievable group of friends, and we've got our health, even when we've lost our house and we're bankrupt. "We can survive." Conservative leader William Hague said that as far as he and his party were concerned, the Hamilton affair was now closed. Asked whether he felt any connection to Mr Hamilton, the Tory leader told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I don't feel any connection ... "I think everybody feels human sympathy for people in these situations, but it is a very sad and tragic episode that did great damage to the party, to my party, and now it is over, and it is over, and now we have to move on. "It is in the past, it is of the past, and that is it." © Press Association ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. 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