Mohamed Al-Fayed

Mohamed Al-Fayed
Born	(1929-01-27) January 27, 1929 Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt
Died	August 30, 2023(2023-08-30) (aged 94)
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, businessman
Known for	Owner of Hôtel Ritz Paris, Harrods, Fulham Football Club; involvement in Dubai development projects

Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (27 January 1929 – 30 August 2023) was an Egyptian entrepreneur who established his main residence and business operations in the United Kingdom starting in the mid-1960s. His assets included ownership of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, the Harrods department store, and Fulham Football Club. At the time of his passing in 2023, Forbes valued his fortune at approximately US$2 billion. Posthumously, Al-Fayed has been subject to numerous accusations involving sexual harassment and sexual assault.

He was married to Samira Khashoggi from 1954 until 1956, with whom he had a son, Dodi. Dodi was notably involved with Diana, Princess of Wales prior to their tragic car accident in Paris in 1997. Al-Fayed maintained that the crash was a planned assassination orchestrated by MI6 under directives from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, financially supporting the unreleased documentary Unlawful Killing which presents these allegations.

Beginning in 1995, Fayed became the subject of intense media attention and inquiries regarding claims of sexist and discriminatory conduct at Harrods, as well as allegations of sexual misconduct. Initial media reports were frequently suppressed due to his persistent threats of legal action. He developed a reputation for aggressively pursuing litigation against news outlets that reported on these claims. In 2024, after his death, more than 200 women publicly accused Fayed of unlawful sexual behavior.

Early life

Born on 27 January 1929 in the Roshdy district of Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt, Fayed was the eldest son of a primary school teacher from Asyut. Although there has been some dispute over his birth year, official records from the Department of Trade confirm it as 1929. His siblings Ali and Salah later became his business associates.

At age nineteen, Al-Fayed began selling Coca-Cola on the streets of Alexandria before moving on to retailing Singer sewing machines. In 1952, he joined a furniture import firm managed by Tousson El Barrawi and a young Adnan Khashoggi, then seventeen years old. Impressing Adnan’s father, Mohamed Kashoggi—who served as physician to the King of Saudi Arabia—Al-Fayed traveled to Europe in the early 1950s before returning to Egypt. After admitting to an affair to his wife Samira Khashoggi (Adnan’s sister), she insisted on a divorce. Subsequently, Al-Fayed ended his business partnership with Adnan Khashoggi and withdrew £100,000 from their joint venture, leading to legal disputes that were ultimately settled by forgiving debts in exchange for Samira’s release.

Facing President Nasser's threat to nationalize foreign enterprises, Al-Fayed acquired a small shipping company from Leon Carasso along with other transport-related holdings at advantageous prices. To safeguard against confiscation in 1961, he relocated ownership of his Middle Eastern Navigation Company to Genoa, Italy.

On 12 June 1964, Al-Fayed arrived in Haiti during François "Papa Doc" Duvalier’s regime using a Kuwaiti passport and adopting the title Sheikh. He secured a fifty-year concession for Haiti's oil sector after Duvalier annulled a U.S.-held monopoly contract. Partnering with geologist George de Mohrenschildt, Al-Fayed departed six months later when samples purported to be crude oil were revealed as molasses. He controlled fees at Haiti’s principal port, generating animosity within the industry. Following a demand for a $30,000 bribe and fearing retaliation, he left Haiti in December 1964 claiming that the government owed him $2 million. A UK Department of Trade report from 1988 accused him of significant deception and defrauding Haiti’s harbor authority out of more than $100,000.

After leaving Haiti, Fayed moved to central London.

Professional Journey in Dubai

Al-Fayed built strong connections within London's Arab expatriate circles, where he met Iraqi entrepreneur Salim Abu Alwan. Abu Alwan introduced him to Mahdi Al Tajir, an advisor to Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai. With the imminent discovery of oil, Dubai aimed to raise £1 million to develop modern port infrastructure. Al-Fayed arranged a £9 million loan from American attorney Imre Rochlitz and earned a £1.5 million commission by facilitating the contract between British engineering firm Costain and Dubai for port construction. Additionally, he played a role in funding the Dubai World Trade Centre, overseen by banker David Douglas-Home of Morgan Grenfell. By the mid-1970s, Costain had secured contracts exceeding £280 million through the efforts of Al-Fayed and Tajir, prompting Al-Fayed to acquire a 20.84% stake in Costain and join its board.

With the earnings from his involvement in Dubai projects, Al-Fayed acquired high-end assets such as a Rolls-Royce, a chalet in Gstaad, and apartments located at 60 Park Lane in Mayfair. In 1974, he encountered British industrialist Tiny Rowland, chairman of conglomerate Lonrho, initiating a multifaceted professional relationship that would later involve legal conflicts extending into the late 1990s.

Rowland persuaded Al-Fayed to swap his Costain shares for 5.5 million shares in Lonrho during 1975; subsequently, Al-Fayed purchased an additional 3 million shares and secured a seat on Lonrho’s board. Concerned by Rowland's alleged misappropriation of company resources and bribery activities in Africa, Al-Fayed exited Lonrho in 1976, selling his holdings to Kuwaiti investors and reinvesting £11 million to reacquire Costain shares. By 1977, Tajir’s influence diminished; consequently, Al-Fayed was excluded from new lucrative contracts such as an aluminium smelting plant and the development of Jebel Ali, jeopardizing Costain’s future earnings.

In 1993, Mohammed Alabbar, director of Dubai's Department of Economic Development, visited Al-Fayed at Harrods signaling an end to substantial commission payments. Tajir faced legal scrutiny over disproportionate profits from Dubai’s aluminium smelter project, while Al-Fayed became a target concerning his management agreement for the Dubai World Trade Centre—subsequently terminated by the Maktoum family. He filed a lawsuit seeking £30–90 million in damages; however, during the 1994 court hearings, his credibility suffered after being caught fabricating illness to evade testimony.

During the mid-1960s, Al-Fayed established a relationship with Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who entrusted him with spearheading Dubai’s transformation. In 1968, he founded IMS (International Marine Services) and introduced British companies such as Costain (where he held a directorship and owned 30% of shares), Bernard Sunley & Sons, and Taylor Woodrow to execute major construction projects within the emirate.

Association with the Sultan of Brunei

In 1966, Al-Fayed assumed the role of financial adviser to then Sultan of Brunei Omar Ali Saifuddien III. Having known the current sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, since childhood, he met him again during the building of a Brunei trade centre. Tiny Rowland alleged that Al-Fayed claimed to have arranged an introduction to the sultan for $500,000 plus a percentage from any resulting business via an Indian holy man; however, Rowland later conceded this claim was untrue.

In 1984, Al-Fayed obtained powers of attorney from the sultan, granting him access to substantial portions of his wealth—at that time, the sultan was considered the richest individual globally. The Royal Bank of Scotland, where both Fayed brothers held accounts, received hundreds of millions transferred from Swiss accounts. Although these funds were presumed to belong to the sultan, Al-Fayed maintained they were separate from the sultan’s personal investments. The Department of Trade and Industry observed that the timing indicated a significant connection between Al-Fayed’s ascent and his close association with the sultan.

Exercising his authority through power of attorney, Al-Fayed acquired the Dorchester Hotel on behalf of the sultan in 1985. He accompanied him to 10 Downing Street for discussions with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher amid sterling’s depreciation. The sultan subsequently reinvested £5 billion into sterling assets; Al-Fayed took credit for persuading him to allocate £500 million worth of contracts to British defence companies.

Rowland and subsequent business ventures

Fayed briefly served on the board of the mining giant Lonrho in 1975 but departed following internal conflicts. In 1979, he acquired the renowned Parisian establishment, the Ritz hotel, for US$30 million. By 1984, Fayed and his brothers had purchased a 30% share in House of Fraser, which included London’s iconic Harrods, from Tiny Rowland; a year later, they secured the remaining 70% for £615 million. Rowland accused the Fayeds of misrepresenting their credentials and urged government authorities to investigate. The subsequent DTI report was critical but did not lead to any formal proceedings; interpretations of its intent varied. Rowland chronicled his dealings with the Fayeds in his book A Hero from Zero.

Shortly before his death in 1998, Rowland accused Fayed of removing documents and jewels from his safe deposit box at Harrods. Fayed and several Harrods staff members were arrested, though no charges were ultimately filed. Valuable items and sensitive papers were taken; Fayed reached a settlement with Rowland’s widow and later unsuccessfully pursued legal action against the Metropolitan Police for wrongful arrest.

While House of Fraser went public in 1994, Fayed maintained ownership of Harrods. He applied twice for British citizenship—in 1994 and 1999—but was denied on both occasions amid speculation that his rivalry with Rowland influenced these decisions.

In 1996, Al-Fayed obtained the rights to the historic British publication Punch and relaunched it at a cost of £3 million under editor Peter McKay. Despite its longstanding history dating back to 1841, Punch struggled against competitors like Private Eye and ceased operations again by 2002.

In January 1997, Al-Fayed established The People's Trust, a political entity focused on combating violence and endorsing candidates who prioritized conscience over party loyalty during the 1997 United Kingdom general election. The organisation was dissolved in September 1998 after failing to submit financial accounts.

Following Maureen Orth's article "Holy War at Harrods" published in Vanity Fair, Al-Fayed initiated a libel lawsuit in 1995 but withdrew it two years later. He commissioned Tom Bower to author his biography; Bower's Fayed: The Unauthorized Biography, released in 1998 despite Al-Fayed’s legal threats, went ahead. Reports indicated that both Orth and Bower faced attempts at entrapment involving allegedly stolen documents offered by Fayed’s associates.

Cash-for-questions scandal

During the 1994 cash-for-questions affair, Fayed revealed which MPs he paid to pose parliamentary questions on his behalf without declaring fees. This controversy resulted in the resignation of Conservative MPs Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith, and led to the formation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life aimed at preventing such misconduct. Fayed also disclosed that cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken stayed at the Ritz Hotel in Paris alongside Saudi arms dealers, culminating in Aitken’s unsuccessful libel suit and subsequent imprisonment for perjury. During this period, Al-Fayed’s spokesperson was former BBC journalist Michael Cole.

Hamilton lost a libel case against Al-Fayed in December 1999 as well as an appeal in December 2000. He denied accepting payments for parliamentary questions. The litigation concerned a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary broadcast in January 1997, where Al-Fayed alleged Hamilton received up to £110,000 for posing questions. Hamilton’s appeal contended that the verdict was compromised because Al-Fayed paid £10,000 for stolen documents obtained from Hamilton's legal team.

In 2003, Fayed moved from Surrey to Switzerland citing disputes with UK tax authorities but returned to Britain in 2005, reaffirming it as his residence. His yacht Sokar was moored in Monaco until its sale in 2014.

House of Fraser group and Harrods

In 1984, Al-Fayed and his brother Ali acquired a 30% ownership in the House of Fraser group, which included the Knightsbridge department store Harrods, purchasing it for £138 million from Tiny Rowland, the leader of Lonrho. Since 1977, Lonrho had attempted to gain control over House of Fraser but was prevented by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in 1981. Following the share acquisition, Al-Fayed ousted Rowland from the House of Fraser board and secured backing from chairman Roland Smith, who was awarded a retroactive bonus after the takeover. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, John Biffen, decreed that Lonrho was prohibited from acquiring additional shares, which led Rowland to sell his remaining stake to Al-Fayed, whom he had encountered during Al-Fayed’s short tenure as a Lonrho director.

By early 1985, Al-Fayed finalized the acquisition of the remaining 70% for £615 million, sparking a hostile dispute with Rowland. Rowland accused Al-Fayed of deceiving shareholders by leveraging a power of attorney from the Sultan of Brunei to finance the transaction. Additionally, he criticized the British government for allowing the sale without a Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigation while having previously blocked Lonrho’s bid under trade secretary Norman Tebbit.

Origins of wealth

To obtain control over House of Fraser, the Al-Fayed brothers fabricated a family background portraying themselves as affluent cotton merchants with assets estimated at several billion dollars by their bankers, Kleinwort Benson. Their assertion of being an "old established Egyptian family" was accepted by British authorities based on a brief asset summary provided by Kleinwort Benson and law firm Herbert Smith.

However, a 1988 DTI investigation contradicted these assertions, revealing that their actual assets consisted only of a single luxury hotel, small oil interests with no current value, less than 5% ownership in a bank valued under $10 million, and two modest cargo ferries—far from the extensive holdings they claimed. The report concluded that had these facts been known earlier, confidence in their financial capacity to acquire House of Fraser would have been significantly diminished.

In March 1985, the Al-Fayeds announced a £615 million cash bid for House of Fraser, purportedly without any borrowings. The DTI discovered that by October 1984 they held roughly $600 million in accounts at Royal Bank of Scotland and Swiss banks but failed to provide credible explanations for these funds. Much of this money was used as collateral to obtain loans exceeding £400 million for the purchase.

Al-Fayed later explained that owning valuable assets such as Harrods meant cash liquidity was unnecessary. The acquisition was initially financed through a Swiss bank loan later replaced by one secured against House of Fraser shares; notably, no personal funds from the Al-Fayeds were involved. The British government confirmed their ownership by declining to refer the transaction to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

During the acquisition’s final stages, Tiny Rowland contested the Al-Fayeds’ wealth claims with backing from Ashraf Marwan and used his newspaper, The Observer, to launch criticism against them. In retaliation, Al-Fayed filed libel lawsuits against The Observer and other critical media outlets, effectively limiting adverse coverage outside Rowland’s publication.

1988 DTI Report

Between 1985 and 1987, Rowland spearheaded an extensive international inquiry into Al-Fayed's purchase of Harrods, deploying a team of accountants, lawyers, private investigators, and journalists in an operation that far exceeded the scope of standard newspaper investigations. The effort included unauthorized surveillance and bribery to secure documents from countries such as Egypt, Haiti, Dubai, Brunei, France, and Switzerland. These documents purportedly exposed fraudulent activities by Al-Fayed and underscored his humble background and relatively modest financial standing.

The compiled evidence was handed over to The Observer, owned by Lonrho, which lobbied for an official investigation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Although the DTI report was finalized in July 1988, its release was initially suppressed. Rowland managed to acquire and publish the report in a special The Observer edition in 1989 to compel governmental disclosure. However, a legal injunction mandated the withdrawal of these editions; the report was formally published in 1990.

The DTI determined that the Al-Fayed brothers had "dishonestly represented their origins, wealth, business interests and resources" to authorities and shareholders. Previously, both Rowland and Lonrho had been criticized in a 1976 DTI report and were characterized by Prime Minister Edward Heath as embodying "an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism."

In 1993, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a claim brought by Al-Fayed and his brothers against the British Government concerning the reputational consequences of the DTI report.

Ownership of Harrods

During Hugh Fraser’s leadership, Harrods experienced decline but still contributed half of House of Fraser’s profits. To rejuvenate the store, Al-Fayed appointed Brian Walsh as manager; Walsh restructured various departments but encountered staff departures and was dismissed in 1987 following disputes with Al-Fayed. To mollify employees, Al-Fayed distributed £2,000 cash bonuses. Subsequently, he assumed a direct leadership role as chairman at Harrods. Walsh’s replacement, Michael Ellis-Jones, remained in position for only eight weeks.

In 1990, Christoph Bettermann joined as deputy chairman after collaborating with Al-Fayed in Dubai. Bettermann resigned in 1991 amid allegations from Al-Fayed regarding disloyalty connected to telephone monitoring. Later accusations from Al-Fayed claimed Bettermann had committed theft; however, three courts exonerated him.

Throughout his 25-year tenure at Harrods, Al-Fayed prioritized creating a theatrical retail experience by personally dressing as a doorman or Father Christmas and engaging celebrities to inaugurate sales events. Harrods sponsored the Royal Windsor Horse Show until 1997 when political pressures prompted cessation of sponsorship to distance Queen Elizabeth II from Al-Fayed.

Artist William Mitchell was commissioned to design an 'entertaining retail environment,' resulting in features such as the Egyptian Hall and Egyptian Escalators at Harrods. Al-Fayed asserted that over £400 million was invested in restorations, including expenditures between £20 million and £75 million on the Egyptian escalators.

In 1991, the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee instructed the Governor of the Bank of England to require the Fayeds to place control of Harrods Bank under trusteeship after judging them "not fit and proper" to manage it. In 1994, Al-Fayed purchased his brother Saleh’s stake in Harrods for £100 million. Prior to House of Fraser plc’s relisting on the London Stock Exchange that year, Harrods was separated from the group to remain under private ownership by Al-Fayed’s family.

Employee relations

Al-Fayed showed a strong preoccupation with employee allegiance, employing two Greek women as informants to keep tabs on staff members. The telephones used by the shop workers' union, USDAW, were subjected to covert surveillance. Workers were commonly engaged on short-term three-month contracts, often dismissed without receiving agreed-upon severance, compelling many to seek recourse through industrial tribunals. Additionally, Al-Fayed secretly recorded conversations among employees, including those of a personal nature.

He frequently terminated staff who failed to conform to his visual criteria, with particular focus on overweight individuals and black employees. To discourage hiring black applicants, Harrods required all candidates to submit photographs. This practice resulted in the proportion of black workers at Harrods being approximately half that found in other London retailers.

Francesca Bettermann, who served as Harrods’ legal advisor, observed that Al-Fayed favored employees who were "light-skinned, well-educated, English, and young," maintaining the photo submission policy despite legal prohibitions against racial inquiries on job applications. In 1994 alone, Harrods resolved five racial discrimination claims; between June and September of that year, 23 out of 28 dismissed employees were black and predominantly occupied low-skilled positions.

One florist faced rejection explicitly due to her race; an industrial tribunal condemned Harrods’ defense as "malicious and dishonest," highlighting clear racial bias and deception by senior management.

Royal warrants

In August 2010, Al-Fayed disclosed in a letter to the Daily Telegraph that he had destroyed Harrods's royal warrants after removing them in 2000. These warrants had been held continuously since 1910. Labeling them a "curse," he claimed that business revenue tripled following their withdrawal. The Duke of Edinburgh rescinded his warrant in January 2000; subsequently, Al-Fayed removed the remaining warrants in December pending reassessment. Al-Fayed had also banned the Duke from entering Harrods. The act of burning the warrants was featured in Unlawful Killing, a film financed by Al-Fayed and directed by Keith Allen.

Sale of Harrods

Although initially denying such intentions, Harrods was ultimately sold in May 2010 to Qatar Holdings, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, for £1.5 billion. A spokesperson for Al-Fayed explained the transaction as part of his retirement strategy aimed at preserving Harrods' heritage and traditions. Al-Fayed later revealed that difficulties in securing dividend approval from the Harrods pension fund trustee played a significant role in his decision, expressing frustration over the necessity of trustee consent to access profits. After the sale concluded, Al-Fayed was appointed honorary chairman of Harrods for a six-month period.

Scotland real estate

In 1972, Fayed purchased the Balnagown estate located in Easter Ross in northern Scotland, expanding its size from 4.8 hectares to an impressive 26,300 hectares. He invested more than £20 million into restoring the 14th-century Balnagown Castle and established a tourism accommodation enterprise on the property. His efforts to promote the region were acknowledged by the Highlands tourist board when they granted him the Freedom of the Scottish Highlands award in 2002.

Al-Fayed sponsored a 2008 reissue of the 15th-century Scotichronicon, which traces Scotland’s origins back to an Egyptian princess named Scota. Despite this account being contested by historians, Al-Fayed asserted that "The Scots are originally Egyptians." In 2009, he openly endorsed Scottish independence, offering support and expressing readiness to assume the presidency should Scotland achieve sovereignty from the United Kingdom.

Charitable Activities

In 1987, Fayed founded the Al Fayed Charitable Foundation with the mission to aid children facing life-threatening illnesses and those enduring poverty. The foundation partners with various organizations and hospices dedicated to disabled and neglected children, primarily operating in the UK, Thailand, and Mongolia. Notable collaborators include Francis House Hospice, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and ChildLine. In 1998, Al-Fayed acquired West Heath School, once attended by Diana, Princess of Wales, for £2.5 million, converting it into The New School at West Heath, which specializes in supporting children who have experienced trauma. His daughter Camilla, serving as an ambassador for the foundation, inaugurated the refurbished Zoe's Place baby hospice in Liverpool in 2011.

Fulham Football Club

Al-Fayed purchased Fulham F.C., a football club based in west London, for £6.75 million in 1997 through the Muddyman Group. His objective was to promote the team to Premier League status within five years. Under Jean Tigana’s management, Fulham secured the First Division title in the 2000–01 season with an impressive 101 points, achieving promotion one year ahead of schedule. By 2002, the club was competing in European competitions, having won the Intertoto Cup and eventually reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2010. Fulham maintained its Premier League position until Al-Fayed sold the club in 2013.

During renovations at Craven Cottage stadium, concerns arose about Fulham’s future home due to Al-Fayed’s sale of development rights on the site. In 2004, Fulham lost a legal dispute against Tigana after Al-Fayed accused him of financial improprieties. By 2009, Al-Fayed publicly supported implementing a wage cap for footballers and criticized both the Football Association and Premier League leadership for being inexperienced and overly focused on financial gain.

In April 2011, Al-Fayed unveiled a statue of Michael Jackson at Craven Cottage; however, it was removed by subsequent owners in 2013. Al-Fayed attributed the club’s later relegation to this removal and donated the statue to the National Football Museum. The statue was eventually taken down from the museum in 2019 amid renewed controversy surrounding Jackson.

Fulham was held under Mafco Holdings in Bermuda, controlled by Al-Fayed’s family. By 2011, he had extended interest-free loans totaling £187 million to support the club financially. In July 2013, ownership transferred to Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American businessman who also owns the NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars.

Business Ventures

Al-Fayed’s commercial interests encompassed:

• Balnagowan Castle and its estates located in the Scottish Highlands
• 75 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City—originally constructed in 1947 as the Esso Building and later known as the Time Warner Building—owned by Al-Fayed and managed by RXR Realty

Significant acquisitions included:

• House of Fraser Group along with Harrods (purchased in 1985 for £615 million; sold in 2010 for £1.5 billion)
• Fulham Football Club (acquired in 1997 for £30 million; sold between £150–200 million in 2013)
• Leasehold of Villa Windsor in Paris—the former residence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor—which Al-Fayed restored along with its collections with assistance from valet Sydney Johnson

Media Holdings

In 1996, Al-Fayed launched Liberty Publishing to initiate and acquire key media enterprises. The company was led by chairman Stewart Steven, former editor of the Evening Standard, while John Dux—ex-managing director at News International—served as CEO. Prior attempts by Al-Fayed to purchase the Today newspaper from Lonrho in 1986 and News International in 1995 were unsuccessful; he attributed these failures to government pressure exerted on Rupert Murdoch. Andrew Neil joined Liberty Publishing and played a role in negotiating a £4 million acquisition of London News Radio; however, this deal ultimately fell through.

Steven made offers of £17 million and subsequently £25 million for The Observer, both rejected by Scott Trust chairman Hugo Young. Liberty Publishing acquired Viva Radio for £3 million in 1996 and rebranded it as Liberty Radio, which aired Fulham F.C. matches before being sold to UCKG in 2000. Due to accumulating debts amounting to £6.5 million, Liberty Publishing was dissolved later that year under Ali Al-Fayed’s direction; executives Steven, Dux, and Mike Hollingsworth were dismissed while Andrew Neil remained involved as a consultant.

Property

Al-Fayed held ownership of prestigious real estate at 55 and 60 Park Lane, along with a building on South Street in Mayfair, all connected to the Dorchester Hotel, which he acquired on behalf of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei.

In 1995, Westminster City Council accused Hyde Park Residences—managing luxury apartments on Park Lane—of underdeclaring short-term leases to lower their business rates, resulting in a demand for an extra £1.1 million. Al-Fayed suspected his letting agent, Sandra Lewis-Glass, of disloyalty. Following surveillance and allegations of theft made by his security chief John McNamara, a former Metropolitan Police officer, Lewis-Glass was ultimately exonerated and subsequently awarded £13,500 for wrongful termination.

During the early 1970s, Al-Fayed expanded his property portfolio by purchasing Castle St. Therese in St Tropez, a chalet located in Gstaad, Switzerland, and the Barrow Green Court estate near Oxted in Surrey.

In the Bocardo SA v Star Energy UK legal dispute, the UK Supreme Court ruled against Al-Fayed’s claim for compensation after Star Energy drilled for oil beneath his Surrey property. Although the High Court initially granted him a share of the oil revenues, subsequent appeals restricted his entitlement to damages only. Bocardo SA—a Liechtenstein-registered company owned by Al-Fayed—held ownership of his Scottish and Surrey estates.

Personal life

Fayed’s first marriage lasted from 1954 to 1956 with Samira Khashoggi, during which time he worked alongside his brother-in-law, Saudi arms dealer and businessman Adnan Khashoggi. In 1985, he wed Finnish socialite and former model Heini Wathén, with whom he had four children, including Omar.

From the early 1970s onward, he adopted the prefix al- in his surname, styling himself as "al-Fayed" instead of simply "Fayed." In Arabic, al- signifies "family of" or "House of," an aristocratic connotation that led to Private Eye magazine nicknaming him the "Phoney Pharaoh." His brothers Ali and Salah also used this prefix during their acquisition of House of Fraser in the 1980s but later discontinued it.

Max Hastings, former editor of the Daily Telegraph, remarked that Al-Fayed persistently requested to be addressed as "Al Fayed" by the newspaper, comparing this to a socially ambitious European adopting noble particles. Hastings declined these requests to uphold editorial independence.

Background and relationship with Princess Diana

Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, then heir to the British throne, in 1981 and became Princess of Wales. As an international icon, she frequently visited Harrods throughout the 1980s. Al-Fayed and Dodi first encountered Diana and Charles in July 1986 at a polo event sponsored by Harrods.

Following Diana and Charles’s divorce in 1996, Al-Fayed hosted her in southern France during mid-1997 along with her sons, Princes William and Harry. For this vacation, he acquired a 195-foot yacht named Jonikal (later renamed Sokar). Dodi and Diana embarked on a private cruise aboard the yacht during which paparazzi captured photographs of them together. A close friend of Diana described this as her "first serious romance" since her divorce.

In late August 1997, after a second private voyage on the Jonikal, Dodi and Diana returned from Sardinia to Paris. They had a private dinner at the Ritz after canceling another restaurant booking due to media intrusion and intended to spend the night at Dodi’s apartment near the Arc de Triomphe. To avoid paparazzi attention, a decoy vehicle departed from the hotel’s front entrance while Diana and Dodi left from the rear in a Mercedes-Benz S280 driven by concierge Henri Paul. Minutes later, their car crashed inside the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. Both Dodi and Paul died instantly; Diana succumbed later at a hospital. British bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor. Fayed flew to Paris the following day to identify Dodi’s body before it was transported back to the UK for an Islamic funeral.

Conspiracy theories

Beginning in February 1998, Al-Fayed asserted that the crash was the result of a conspiracy, claiming it had been engineered by MI6 under the direction of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. These allegations were dismissed by a French judicial inquiry, although Al-Fayed pursued an appeal.

The British inquiry known as Operation Paget, conducted by the Metropolitan police and concluded in 2006, found no proof supporting conspiracy theories despite Al-Fayed presenting 175 separate "conspiracy claims".

An inquest overseen by Lord Justice Scott Baker commenced in October 2007, extending the original 2004 proceedings. During this inquest, Al-Fayed accused the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, and others of plotting to assassinate Diana to prevent her from marrying a Muslim. He also claimed Diana was expecting a child, a statement not corroborated by witnesses and widely dismissed as conspiratorial.

The media and British intelligence officials heavily criticized Al-Fayed’s testimony, with calls for an early conclusion to the inquest. His legal representatives later admitted there was no concrete evidence linking either the Duke or MI6 to any murder conspiracy. John MacNamara, who investigated for Al-Fayed, conceded he had no evidence beyond Al-Fayed’s own assertions.

On 7 April 2008, the jury concluded that Diana and Dodi were "unlawfully killed" due to the gross negligence of Henri Paul—who was intoxicated—and the actions of pursuing vehicles.

Al-Fayed’s legal team acknowledged there was no evidence supporting claims that Diana was unlawfully embalmed or pregnant, nor any involvement by French emergency services in a conspiracy. Following this, Al-Fayed ceased his campaign and accepted the official verdict.

Journalist Dominic Lawson observed that Al-Fayed attempted to construct a narrative involving a drunken driver connected to his business interests and managed to influence tabloid media coverage to some extent.

Al-Fayed provided financial backing for Unlawful Killing (2011), a documentary promoting his version of events; however, it was never officially released due to concerns over potential libel.

Nationality

Originally an Egyptian national, Al-Fayed entered Haiti using a Kuwaiti passport and departed Haiti carrying a Haitian diplomatic passport before arriving in the United Kingdom in 1964. By 1970, he informed Mahdi Al Tajir that their Haitian diplomatic passports had expired and that Egyptian passports complicated visa acquisition. Tajir arranged for Emirati passports for the Al-Fayed brothers; however, these did not confer Emirati citizenship. On these passports, Al-Fayed modified his birth year from 1929 to 1933; his siblings similarly reduced their birth years by ten years.

In 1993, the ruling Al Maktoum family of Dubai declined to renew their passports, prompting them to revert to Egyptian passports. That same year, Mohamed and Ali Al-Fayed applied for British citizenship. Ali's application received endorsements from Gordon Reece and Peter Hordern, while Mohamed's was supported by Lord Bramall and Jeffrey Archer. Both applications were denied in December 1993 following an unfavorable report from the Department of Trade and Industry. At that time, Conservative home secretary Michael Howard ordered a review amid concerns about Al-Fayed’s associations with alleged fraudster Harry Landy uncovered during investigations. The applications were rejected again in February 1995. In 1996, the High Court ruled that the home secretary could not refuse citizenship applications without providing reasons; subsequently, the Home Office withdrew its appeal.

In 1997, under new Labour home secretary Jack Straw, their applications were reconsidered but Mohamed’s request was rejected again in May 1999. Ali obtained citizenship in March 1999. Mohamed’s denial was attributed to his admission of bribing politicians and breaking into Harrods safety deposit boxes. He described this outcome as "perverse," attributing blame to the British establishment and "zombie" politicians.

Death

Mohamed Al-Fayed passed away in London on 30 August 2023 at the age of 94. His death was attributed to natural causes and publicly announced on 1 September. On the same day, he was laid to rest at Barrow Green Court beside his son Dodi, following a funeral service held during Friday prayers at the London Central Mosque.

Sexual misconduct allegations

Al-Fayed was subject to numerous accusations involving sexual harassment and assault. Reports indicated that young women applying for positions at Harrods underwent HIV screenings and gynecological examinations, with some reportedly chosen to accompany Al-Fayed on weekend trips to Paris.

Early allegations

A 1995 profile in Vanity Fair featured former employees who claimed that Al-Fayed frequently pursued young women within his office environment and responded with crude remarks and inappropriate conduct when rejected. Al-Fayed initiated legal action against Vanity Fair, culminating in a settlement that did not involve damages but mandated that the evidence be sealed. The magazine settled partly due to sympathy following Princess Diana’s tragic accident.

In December 1997, ITV’s The Big Story broadcast testimonies from ex-Harrods staff describing habitual sexual harassment by Al-Fayed. In 2008, the Metropolitan Police interviewed him regarding an allegation involving a 15-year-old girl; however, the Crown Prosecution Service later discontinued the case citing inconsistent statements.

A 2017 episode of Channel 4’s Dispatches accused Al-Fayed of sexual harassment and grooming attempts targeting three female Harrods employees, including a teenager aged 17, over a period of thirteen years. One accuser chose to waive anonymity and speak publicly.

Media coverage in the early stages was limited due to Al-Fayed’s frequent threats of litigation and substantial legal expenditures aimed at silencing outlets reporting these claims. Furthermore, his head of security, John MacNamara, was alleged to have intimidated and monitored potential witnesses and victims to prevent exposure.

Sexual misconduct scandal

By September 2024, over twenty former Harrods employees had come forward accusing Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual assault, with five alleging rape. Gaute Haugenes, former manager of Fulham L.F.C., stated that players were shielded from Al-Fayed because of concerns about his conduct, noting staff awareness of his preference for “young, blonde girls.” A BBC Two documentary titled Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods brought attention to these accusations and highlighted Harrods’ failure to conduct proper investigations. By late September, legal representatives reported representing 37 clients and receiving contact from approximately 150 individuals alleging misconduct by Al-Fayed.

On 26 September, the Metropolitan Police announced investigations into additional suspects connected to the allegations. Michael Ward, managing director of Harrods, condemned Al-Fayed for creating an environment marked by secrecy, intimidation, and sexual abuse. By this time, roughly 200 women had come forward with claims extending beyond Harrods to include Al-Fayed’s ownership period of Fulham FC (1997–2013). Lawyers confirmed they were working with around 60 women by late September.

In October 2024, authorities disclosed forty new allegations dating from 1979 through 2013. Ronnie Gibbons, former captain of Fulham Ladies, accused Al-Fayed of groping her and attempting forced kissing at Harrods in 2000. By 21 October, Harrods was reportedly settling over 250 compensation claims related to these accusations. By month’s end, more than 400 alleged victims or witnesses had engaged legal counsel; one attorney described it as “the most severe case of corporate abuse against women ever recorded.” Some accusations implicated both Mohamed Al-Fayed and his late brother Salah.

In November 2024, it emerged that the Metropolitan Police had been alerted to allegations against Al-Fayed as early as 1995—ten years earlier than previously acknowledged—though these reports were reportedly dismissed or inadequately documented. The ongoing investigation includes over five individuals suspected of facilitating Al-Fayed’s offenses. The inquiry covers alleged crimes between 1977 and 2014 involving victims as young as thirteen years old.

Omar Al-Fayed, Mohamed’s son, expressed shock at the claims and sympathy for those affected, urging full transparency and accountability throughout the investigation.

In media

Al-Fayed made guest appearances on the Da Ali G Show in 2000 and the Howard Stern Show in 2007. He also took part in the 2011 British edition of Celebrity Big Brother, where he challenged housemates to complete a task that involved dressing up as ancient Egyptian mummies.

In the 2007 BBC comedy series Gavin & Stacey, the character Nessa alludes to having had a relationship with Al-Fayed.

Portrayed by Salim Daw in the fifth and sixth seasons of The Crown, Al-Fayed's passing in 2023 prompted Daw to share feelings of "deep sadness" and a personal connection to him.

External links

• (archived on Wayback Machine in 2014)
• Al-Fayed Charitable Foundation