Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of the renowned Harrods department stores in United Kingdom’s London whose son was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at the age of 94, his family said.
Al Fayed was a self-made Egyptian businessman who also once owned the Fulham Football Club. He was devastated by the demise of his son Dodi Fayed in the car crash in Paris with Princess Diana almost 26 years ago. Since then he spent the rest of his life mourning the loss and fighting the British establishment he blamed for their death tragedy.
In a statement released by the Fulham Club, Fayed’s family said, “Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.”
“He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones,” it added.
According to the media reports, Harrods’ owner was convinced that Dodi and Diana were killed in a conspiracy mastermind by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He claimed that the royal family arranged the accident because they did not like Diana dating an Egyptian.
Further, he claimed that Diana was pregnant and planning to marry his son and that the royal family could not countenance the princess marrying a Muslim.
Al Fayed in 2008 revealed the list of alleged conspirators included Philip, Prince Charles, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Diana’s sister Sarah McCorquodale, two former London police chiefs and the CIA.
The inquest concluded that the duo died because of the reckless actions of their driver and paparazzi chasing them.
Taking notes from his life, Mohamed Al Fayed was born on January 27, 1929, in Egypt’s Alexandria. He was the son of a school inspector who began his business career with an interests in shipping. Then, in the 1960s, he moved to Britain to set about building an empire.
Now, he came into the limelight in the 1980s, when Al Fayed started hitting headlines as he battled with rival tycoon ‘Tiny’ Rowland over control of the House of Fraser group, which included Harrods.
He was also a key player in the ‘cash for questions’ scandal that roiled Britain’s politics in the 1990s.
According to The Sunday Times Rich List, which documents the fortunes of Britain’s wealthiest people, the family’s fortune is at 1.7 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) this year, making Al Fayed the 104th richest person in Britain.
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