The Saudi Arabian embassy in London has issued a formal denial that there is a rift between King Fahd and his brother, Prince Turki bin Abdul-Aziz, as was reported last week.

The reports had said that the prince had been living in Egypt for several years because of a disagreement with the royal family over his marriage.

But in a statement today, the Saudi embassy said that relations between the prince and other members of the royal family were cordial, and that there was nothing to prevent him from returning home.

The embassy made no comment about other reports that Egyptian police were investigating allegations that servants of the prince were imprisoned in a Cairo hotel, and that two of them had escaped from a room on the twenty-ninth floor by knotting together bedsheets.