'This is Diana being totally irresponsible ... hasn't she got enough

Princess Diana has sparked a political and royal row after accepting a holiday from "cash-for-questions" Harrods chief Mohammed Al Fayed.

She has taken Princes William and Harry to sail with him off St Tropez on his pounds 20 million yacht, Sakara.

In a devastating breach of protocol and security she did NOT tell Prince Charles of her plans.

All she said was: "We are off for two weeks in the Med."

Charles will be furious - and is likely to order the Princes home immediately.

Diana has already been told to steer clear of politics. Last month she earned the wrath of senior Tories by planning to attend an anti- land mines meeting at the House Of Commons.

The pressure was so great she had to pull out of the date. But the trip with Al Fayed is a far greater breach of protocol - and will have serious implications for the Government and the monarchy.

Diana and the Princes boarded the yacht on Friday after flying into nearby Cannes on a private jet with Al Fayed, his wife Fin and their children.

The party yesterday had lunch on deck off the millionaires' playground - where Al Fayed also has a sumptuous villa in an exclusive area where properties cost pounds 300,000 a season to rent.

Last night the boat's captain "pulled the plug" on its satellite phone.

Tory Lord Archer was amazed at Diana's action and said: "Good God, It's Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis all over again. Money has to be the main attraction."

Archer has previously said: "Diana has charisma in packets. She's film star quality in that way.

"She's now got presence, which she didn't have when she was younger, and when you've got the combination of presence and charisma, you've got Jackie Kennedy."

John F. Kennedy's widow became one of the most glamorous single woman in the world after his assassination in 1963. But she didn't have the fortune Diana gained from her divorce settlement - and married Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis.

Harold Brookes-Baker editor of Burke's Peerage said: "This is totally irresponsible of the Princess - particularly considering the problems people have faced with the Al Fayed connection.

"These problems are likely to go on for a lot longer - and so it is important that she and the family she married into should be completely removed from controversy.

"The controversy this is creating is unnecessary for a family that has already been through so much."

Downing Street was also stunned by Diana's lack of discretion. Last night all a spokesman would say was: "Princess Diana's holiday arrangements are her own affair."

Constitutional expert Lord Fawsley laughed and said: "They make a pretty formidable pair!"

The controversial cruise will upstage Prince Charles - who has taken William and Harry to the Med for the past six summers.

Charles and Diana have the boys on alternate school holidays. But it is a condition that Diana tells Charles where they are going - and who with.

Greek billionaire John Latsis has traditionally put his liner- sized private yacht at their disposal. On the first trip in 1992 Diana went with them. When Charles asked if the ship was available this year he was told: "No, it's, er being refitted."

Diana has the choice of many millionaires' yachts for a holiday. Senior establishment figures are wondering what made her choose Al Fayed's.

The Egyptian tycoon is the last person the Princess should be seen with. He was the man at the heart of the "cash-for- questions" scandal that helped destroy the Tory Government.

The flamboyant Harrods boss admitted paying MPs to ask questions in Parliament on his behalf.

Last night ex-MP Neil Hamilton, who was brought down by Al Fayed's evidence, said: "Tempting as it is to make a comment, I am not sure it would be sensible."

Although friends warned Diana it would be politically insensitive for her to stay on the Harrods boss's yacht, she could not be dissuaded.

It emerged last night that he had asked Diana to go on the board of Harrods - but she refused. Nevertheless, friends are claiming they may have plans for the future. Al Fayed sponsors the Royal Windsor Horse Show and was recently photographed with the Queen. And a Harrods insider said: "Diana and Mohammed have been regularly meeting each other for tea on the terrace at the store over the past year. They talk about their common interests in various charities."

Al Fayed's offer to Diana of a prestigious Harrods job came after he had already persuaded Diana's step-mother, Raine, to go on the board.

Raine was appointed last November, shortly after she divorced her third husband.

She even worked eight-hour shifts at the Harrods shop at Heathrow and in April hosted a televised Harrods picnic in Hyde Park.

Raine and Diana have been reconciled following a bitter row after the death of Earl Spencer.Yesterday Raine was said to be "in London but out shopping".

A spokesman for Al Fayed said: "He is in the South Of France holidaying with his family aboard the Sakara and the Princess Of Wales and her two sons are with them. Other than that I can tell you nothing. It is a private holiday."

A Buckingham Palace spokesman referred questions to Diana's financial advisor Michael Gibbins who said:"I am not going to make any comment."

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