Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Princess Diana’s lover Dodi Fayed, has been accused of raping five women and sexually assaulting 20 others at a series of locations, including a royal palace featured in Netflix’s The Crown. In the new BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, women who worked at the British luxury department store claimed the Egyptian billionaire raped them at Villa Windsor in Paris' Bois de Boulogne. One woman named Gemma said she told Al Fayed “No, I don't want you to” before he allegedly forced himself on her at the 14-bedroom home of post-abdication King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson, shown in season three of the hit historical drama.
"And he proceeded to just keep trying to get in the bed, at which point he was kind of on top of me and (I) really couldn't move anywhere,” she said. "I was kind of face down on the bed and he just pressed himself on me." The alleged victim said the British tycoon, who die in 2023 aged 94, told her to wash herself with Dettol in an attempt to cover evidence.
“Obviously he wanted me to erase any trace of him being anywhere near me,” she said. A woman named Sophia claimed he attempted to rape her more than once at Villa Windsor. She said she screamed at and kicked him during one of the alleged attacks, adding “he was vile”.
Sophia said Al-Fayed’s portrayal in The Crown, played by 74-year-old Palestinian actor Salim Daw, was inaccurate. The billionaire’s storyline follows his seeming hand in manufacturing Dodi and Diana’s relationship to secure himself British citizenship. A scene where he meets the late Princess for the first time at polo match attempts to capture the businessman in an affectionate light as the pair form a friendship.
“That makes me angry, people shouldn't remember him like that. It's not how he was,” she said. Other women claimed Al Fayed sexually assaulted them at his London apartment, Hôtel Ritz Paris and Harrods offices.
The businessman owned the Hôtel, Harrods, and Fulham Football Club in London. At the time of his death Al Fayed's wealth was estimated to US $2 billion (AUD $2.94 billion), according to Forbes.
Harrods in a statement to the BBC said it is working to settle any claims against the billionaire, and that the store's culture is now “very different”. “The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010,” a department store spokesperson said. “It is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.
“Since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible. “This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees.” “While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.
” Al Fayed was buried alongside Dodi at Barrow Green Court after a funeral service at London Central Mosque on August 30 2023. Dodi and Diana died almost exactly 26 years to the date in the early hours of August 31, 1997 from a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma underpass in Paris. If you or someone you know needs support, please contact: Lifeline: 13 11 14 Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636.
