Mohamed Al-Fayed, ex-Harrods owner whose son died with Princess Diana, ‘raped 5 women’: ‘He was vile’

Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods, reportedly raped and sexually assaulted five women who worked at the department store. The billionaire died last year aged 94. Further 20 women- who worked at Harrods from the late 1980s to 2000s- said that he sexually assaulted them.

The assaults were carried out at the company’s offices, in Fayed’s London apartment or on foreign trips often in Paris at the Ritz hotel, the women claimed.

Mohamed Al Fayed would regularly tour the department store’s sales floors to identify young female assistants that he found attractive before isolating and attacking them. The allegations were made in a BBC documentary called ‘Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods’.

In the expose, the broadcaster claimed that Harrods not only failed to intervene but also helped cover up allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed. The company’s current owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations, stressing the company today is “very different”.

Bruce Drummond, a lawyer from a legal team representing a number of the women, said, “The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark.”

One of Mohamed Al Fayed’s alleged victims, Sophia, who worked as his personal assistant from 1988 to 1991, said he tried to rape her more than once. “He was vile,” she said, adding, “People shouldn’t remember him like that. It’s not how he was.”

Another alleged victim stayed in one of Al Fayed’s apartments instead of taking a taxi home on his insistence after working late on Harrods business. After this, he then invited her to his personal apartment, where he asked her to sit on the bed, with his hand on her leg and a firm grip. She said, “I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen. I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over. I remember feeling his body on me, the weight of him. Just hearing him make these noises. And just going somewhere else in my head.”

She said, “He raped me. Afterwards, you blame yourself. You’re there to do a job and this is your boss standing there in front of you in a dressing gown. And so even when you’re trying to get out of the situation, I’m trying not to offend him.”

Mohamed Al Fayed was born in Egypt and was a businessman in the Middle East before moving to the UK in the 1970s. He took control of Harrods in 1985 and purchased the Ritz hotel in Paris in 1979. He was also the owner of Fulham FC between 1997 and 2013. His son Dodi died in a car crash in Paris alongside Diana, Princess of Wales.