JENNI MURRAY: I met Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Mohamed Al Fayed before their depraved crimes were exposed...
and there was a skin-crawling factor that united them all By Jenni Murray, Columnist for Femail Magazine Published: 01:41, 26 September 2024 | Updated: 01:41, 26 September 2024 e-mail View comments It was while working for BBC 's Newsnight that I first met Mohamed Al Fayed. The year was 1985 and he'd become the talk of the town after buying two great British institutions – the Dorchester Hotel and Harrods. It would be some time before he would begin his battle for British citizenship, but his wealth and controversial way of doing business had made him a subject of political interest.
I'll never forget my visceral reaction to the man. I felt my flesh creep and couldn't get away from him fast enough. He hadn't made a move or touched me but there was something about him.
He was one of those men who look you up and down in the way a farmer would view a cow at a cattle market, thankfully turning away with a sniff of dismissal in my case. Billionaire businessman Mohamed Al Fayed owned luxury retail store Harrods All these years on, I am seething with fury at the news that Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, allegedly raped and sexually assaulted women while they worked at Harrods. Lawyers representing the alleged sexual abuse victims say they have heard from more than 150 women.
Many of the stories date back to the 1980s – around the time I met him..