It was hardly a surprise and the famous London store Harrods, owned by Mr Mohamed Al Fayed, denied it was awful news. But it was certainly not business as usual yesterday when it was announced that the Duke of Edinburgh would not be renewing the award of a royal warrant to the store at the end of this year after 40 years of patronage.
Buckingham Palace said the decision not to renew the royal warrant had been taken because of a "significant decline" in the amount of trade between the duke's household and the Knightsbridge store during the last three years.
But the timing of the decision will be seen as a snub to Mr Al Fayed, who made a series of allegations against the duke during his recent libel case against the former Conservative MP, Mr Neil Hamilton. During the case Mr Al Fayed accused the duke and MI5 of being behind the deaths of his son, Dodi, and Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1998.
Harrods currently holds four royal warrants from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, the Prince of Wales and the duke, and they are reviewed every five years.
The duke's award, which was first granted in 1956, was due for review this year but the awards given by Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth are not due for renewal at the store until 2001.
Mr Al Fayed now has until the end of this year to take down the large sign displaying the duke's royal warrant from outside his store and from his official Harrods stationery.
Putting a brave face on the decision, a Harrods spokesman, Mr Laurie Meyer, said the decline in trading between the duke's household and the store predated the Paris crash: "We have no real reaction, we simply accept that this reflects diminution in trade. Trade has always been the criteria for whether or not people hold royal warrants. The Duke of Edinburgh is perfectly entitled to shop wherever he likes, it's his choice. . .Royals from all over the world still come here anyway."
But Mr Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's Peerage, said the loss of the duke's warrant could prove to be a huge blow to Harrods because of the enduring significance of the award to people in Britain and abroad.