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15 July 1993: Peter Preston writes to Mohamed 'Al' Fayed to thank him for the previous night's meeting.  In his letter Preston thanks Fayed for his help in The Guardian's investigations into Ian Greer, and requests that Fayed should "at least let him see" documentary evidence such as the "Hamilton hotel bill".
    This letter also shows that Preston discussed ways that Fayed could help The Guardian's defence of the libel writ issued by Prince Bandar over its article on Tory funding, by supplying The Guardian with confidential information concerning the flight details of Prince Bandar's private Gulf Stream jet. 
    It is certain, given The Guardian's long-standing suspicions about Ian Greer, that Peter Preston also told Fayed that he suspected that his lobbyist had bribed his former supporters on the Conservative backbenches during his 1980s battle with Tiny Rowland over Harrods.  It is known that shortly after this meeting Preston provided Fayed with access to all The Observer's files inherited by The Guardian six weeks earlier, which The Observer had amassed to defend three libel actions that Fayed had served on The Observer during the 1980s.  It seems certain therefore that Preston had given Fayed access to these files in exchange for information about the lobbyist. 
    From copious evidence to be discussed later in this chronology it is clear that following his meeting with Fayed Peter Preston and his staff were under the mistaken impression that the lobbyist Ian Greer had bribed Tim Smith during the 1980s, and that Greer had arranged Neil Hamilton's visit to the Paris Ritz in September 1987.  In fact, Fayed himself had given Tim Smith undisclosed cash payments and Fayed himself had arranged Neil Hamilton's stay at the Ritz.  The overriding logical explanation is that the wily Egyptian had merely transposed his own role as Smith's paymaster onto Greer in order to deliver his side of Preston's bargain and so obtain access to The Observer's files.  Similarly, it seems only logical that Fayed had merely transposed his role as the arranger of Hamilton's Ritz stay onto Greer in order to create the false impression that Greer was involved in arranging free holidays for his client's supporters. 
    Given The Guardian's historical suspicions about Greer, as far as Preston would have been concerned, Fayed's half-truths would have fitted perfectly and Preston would have had little reason to doubt Fayed's word. 

A year later on 20 October 1994 The Guardian eventually published its article alleging that the lobbyist Ian Greer had bribed Tory MPs Tim Smith & Neil Hamilton to table parliamentary questions.  Greer and Hamilton responded immediately by issuing libel writs against The Guardian.  Smith resigned, but without clarifying that he did so because he had taken cash secretly from Fayed himself -- not from Greer as alleged in The Guardian's article.
    Eight months later in June 1995 Peter Preston signed his witness statement in defence of Greer's & Hamilton's libel actions.  In his statement Peter Preston bolstered the credibility of The Guardian's article by claiming that it represented the culmination of research over the previous sixteen months since his first meeting with Fayed on 14 July 1993. 
    In fact, The Guardian had rushed the article to press on the evening of 19 October 1994 just two days after Fayed agreed to endorse the paper's story in a rage over having to pay a £5 million tax bill barely weeks after Prime Minister John Major had rebuffed his demands for a British passport.  In order to mask further the fact that Fayed had been motivated by vengeance against the Tories, Preston claimed that the Guardian's inquiries into Greer had been prompted by allegations that the Egyptian had made during their first meeting on his own initiative without any prompting.  Preston claimed that Fayed's allegations about Greer had surprised him, and had prompted him to instigate inquiries into the lobbyist.  Tellingly, though he was most certainly aware of it Preston failed to acknowledge the Commons debate on lobbying, held just two weeks earlier on 28 June 1993, during which Labour MP Bob Cryer had roasted Greer over his "secret" commission payments. 
    To complete his charade, Preston also claimed that Fayed had shown him a copy of Hamilton's Ritz hotel bill from six years earlier.  This was another ploy to bolster The Guardian's false claim that it was Fayed who had done the running against Greer, not The Guardian.  By claiming that Fayed had the bill to hand during the meeting, Preston sought to create the false impression Fayed had gone to the meeting with prior intention of making allegations
    A comparison between Peter Preston's witness statement and the letter that he sent Fayed after the meeting expose Preston's sophisticated falsehoods:

    Extract from Peter Preston's witness statement dated 26 June 1995:
        In late June or early July 1993, I contacted Mr Al-Fayed and then went to see him in July, at Harrods.
        This was a "one to one" meeting.  This was the first time I had met Mr Al-Fayed.  The principal matter
        we discussed was the relationship between Mrs Thatcher and certain Saudis and contributions to
        Conservative Party election efforts…
            Mr Al-Fayed then told me that some years ago and in the context of the House of Fraser enquiry, Ian
        Greer had approached him (Al-Fayed) offering his services and included in those services was an offer
        to arrange for two MPs, Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith, to ask questions in the House of Commons for
        which he would require cash to pass on to the MPs…  I had not realised that Members of Parliament
        would accept cash in exchange for asking questions in the House and I thought this was a more
        immediately important story than some of the other matters Mr Al-Fayed discussed with me…
            Mr Al-Fayed then told me that Neil Hamilton had stayed at his Paris hotel, the Ritz, for a period of a
        week in 1987.  I was shown details of Neil Hamilton's Ritz bill but was not given a copy of it. 

Peter Preston's letter of thanks dated 15 July 1993, which he sent Fayed the day after the meeting, provides proof of Preston's deception.  (Incidentally, The Guardian withheld this letter from Hamilton & Greer's solicitors in defiance of a Court Order for Discovery). 
    Preston's letter makes clear that The Guardian's inquiries into Ian Greer had already begun prior to their meeting; and that Fayed did not have Hamilton's Ritz hotel bill to hand during their meeting at all -- which completely contradicts Preston's witness statement.  Preston wrote:

        "Thank you for last night's meeting.  It was both heartening and fascinating to have your help in an
        investigation which progressively reveals so much that is rotten at the heart of British public life...
            However, as I explained last night, we are closest to having stories in printable form in the area of
        Ian Greer Associates and shall shortly be approaching some of the MPs involved to put relevant
        matters to them.  Tim Smith and Neil Hamilton will certainly be on that list and it would be of the
        greatest benefit if you could at least let me see, in confidence, any of the documentation from your
        dealings with them.  The Hamilton hotel bill, for example, sounded precisely the kind of
        documentation most likely to provoke answers which are needed…

When examined in context with The Guardian's longstanding suspicions about Ian Greer, Preston's letter shows that his lies were part of a sophisticated ploy in order to mask the fact that it was The Guardian who had taken the initiative and asked Fayed for information to assist the paper's investigation into the lobbyist; not Fayed who had contacted The Guardian out of a sense of public duty, as portrayed by The Guardian.

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