The self-made tycoon now dubbed a 'monster': Who was Mohamed Al Fayed?

Multiple ex-employees of Harrods have accused Al Fayed, its former owner, of rape and sexual assault Credit: AP

Multiple ex-employees of the luxury department store Harrods have accused the store's former owner - the late Mohamed Al Fayed - of sexual abuse.

A lawyer representing multiple women has branded Al Fayed a "monster", and said the allegations are among the worst he has dealt with.

The Egypt-born tycoon, who died in September 2023 aged 94, was a controversial and often abrasive businessman who never shied away from a fight - even taking on the royal family.

ITV News explains how he became a business tycoon - and the controversy behind his life and work.

Mohamed al Fayed leaving the High Court, London, after a preliminary hearing for the inquest into the deaths of his son and Princess Diana Credit: PA

From the streets of Alexandria to a self-made billionaire

Al Fayed's created a billion-pound business empire in his adopted UK, including upmarket department store Harrods, which led to the Egyptian being dubbed the “Phoney Pharaoh”.

In the 1980s, he hit the headlines as he battled for control of the House of Fraser group, including its flagship store Harrods, with rival tycoon Roland “Tiny” Rowland.

Al Fayed and his brother bought a 30% stake in House Of Fraser from Mr Rowland in 1984, and took control of Harrods for £615 million the following year.

Mohamed Al Fayed unveils a new memorial in Harrods on the 8th anniversary of the deaths of his son Dodi and Princess Diana Credit: PA

Mr Rowland’s London and Rhodesian Mining Company (Lonrho) had attempted to buy Harrods but was beaten to it by the Egyptian family.

Mr Rowland later accused Mr Al Fayed of breaking into his safety deposit box at the department store.

The Egyptian-born was arrested in March 1998 along with Harrods security director John Macnamara and four other store staff, but was never charged. In 2000, Mohamed Al Fayed agreed to pay the widow of Tiny Rowland more than £1.4m for gemstones "stolen" from Mr Rowland's safety deposit box.

Al Fayed later expanded his business interests to include the Paris Ritz and Fulham Football Club.

Fulham team owner and club chairman Mohamed Al Fayed waves a club scarf prior to the game against Sunderland Credit: AP

Fulham were languishing in Division Two when he took over in 1997 after Al Fayed spent money on players and high-profile managers, including Kevin Keegan and Roy Hodgson, the club rose to the top-half of the Premier League in the early Noughties, peaking in qualification for the Europa League.

Off the pitch, fans were treated to some bizarre spectacles, including a 1999 visit from Al Fayed’s friend Michael Jackson.

The Harrods boss and the club faced some ridicule when, in 2011, two years after Jackson’s death, a statue of the King Of Pop was erected at its Craven Cottage ground.

When Al Fayed sold the club in 2013 it was taken down, and Fulham were later relegated.

A royal family fall-out

Al Fayed’s most public attack was on the House of Windsor and the Establishment over the death of his son and heir Dodi – alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The tycoon spent a decade after their deaths repeatedly claiming they were murdered in a plot by the security services and the Duke of Edinburgh.

But he was forced to reluctantly concede defeat after a high-profile six-month inquest in 2007 and 2008.

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed pictured in the French Riviera resort of St. Tropez, 1997 Credit: AP

The jury returned unlawful killing verdicts on both Diana and Dodi, but pinned the blame on the drink-driving of their chauffeur Henri Paul, who also died in the crash.

Paul was employed by the Paris Ritz, where Diana and Dodi had had dinner on August 31, a hotel owned by Mr Al Fayed.

At the end of the inquest, coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker openly voiced suggestions of “closing ranks” at the hotel over the question of whether they knew Paul was drinking on the night of the incident.

The jury had heard allegations, strenuously denied, that key witnesses were pressurised into backing Al Fayed’s theories and there was a “conspiracy to pervert the truth” within the Fayed organisation.

Al Fayed later announced he would accept the verdict of the inquest jury, albeit “with reservations”.

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