Dodi Fayed’s ill-fated love affair with Princess Diana played out tragically in the public eye. But few people know that the Egyptian billionaire romanced a stunning American model just before he began dating Diana in the summer of 1997. Fayed and Kentucky-born Kelly Fisher were together for close to a year before he was linked to the princess.
Fisher claims that she and Fayed were even engaged before he suddenly ditched her for Diana — an allegation that was staunchly denied by Fayed’s famous father, Harrod’s owner Mohamed al-Fayed. The Crown’s sixth season , released on Netflix earlier this week, documents the dramatic love triangle, with Fisher played by actress Erin Richards. While Fayed and Diana were killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, Fisher is currently living a quiet life in South Carolina.
Below, a look at the the model’s rise to stardom and the lawsuit she filed following her nasty split from Fayed. Fisher was born in Louisville, Kentucky and relocated to Canada as a child, according to Time magazine. She kicked off her modeling career at the age of 16, before going on to grace the cover of Marie Clare magazine and walk the runway for high-end designers, including Armani.
Fisher was 30 years old and vacationing in Paris when she first locked eyes with Fayed, then aged 41. The pair quickly fell in love, with Fisher later claiming the billionaire proposed to her after eight months of dating with a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. According.