Le Monde insisted yesterday that Diana, Princess of Wales, used the word "hopeless" to describe the attitude of the former Conservative government towards her campaign for an international ban on landmines.
One of the newspaper's editors, Edwy Plenel, said that Princess Diana told a journalist, Annick Cojean, "The former one was so hopeless," referring to the government of Mr John Major.
The interview infuriated Britain's Conservatives, who accused the princess of jeopardising Britain's constitutional balance by interfering in politics.
On Wednesday, the princess's press service denied that the princess had breached a long-standing tradition of royal neutrality. "The princess made no such criticism. Her stance on the question of landmines has been apolitical throughout. Her concerns are exclusively humanitarian," Kensington Palace said.
The previous Conservative government failed to subscribe to a ban on landmines, but the Labour administration of Mr Tony Blair announced a moratorium soon after it came to power last May.
This latest controversy follows news of the princess's liaison with Mr Dodi Al-Fayed, son of Muhammad, the Egyptian owner of Harrods department store.
In Paris yesterday, Le Monde celebrated the publication of its interview with the princess. In a back-page article, its London correspondent, Marc Roche, described how he fielded calls from British and foreign media non-stop from 5 a.m.
On radio programmes, Princess Diana's declarations to the newspaper came second only to a report about Montserrat, the article stated, adding: "The publication by Le Monde of the thoughts of Lady Diana . . . caused a real stir in the United Kingdom. And with good reason!"
The newspaper said it was almost unheard of for Diana to give a substantial interview, and that, in a country very sure of the superiority of its media, this interview had been in a French paper.
It said it was also a new blow to the royal family, with Queen Elizabeth's former daughter-in-law openly declaring sympathy for Mr Blair.
The family is supposed to stay neutral with regard to the political parties, it said.
The article described how Princess Diana criticised the British press, portraying it as ferocious, and told how she could not leave Britain because of her sons.
It said the princess paid homage to the Labour government for its stance on anti-personnel mines, and referred to its predecessor as "hopeless".