What secrets did Mohamed Al Fayed's inner circle take with them to the grave? By Daily Mail Reporter Published: 00:23, 20 September 2024 | Updated: 00:23, 20 September 2024 e-mail View comments Mohamed Al Fayed rose from a poverty-stricken childhood to the top of British high society and gained many loyal allies along the way. The high profile businessman, who amassed a £1.3billion fortune before his death in August 2023 aged 94, has been accused of rape and sexual assault by more than 20 female ex-employees.
Al Fayed famously owned London 's high end department store Harrods from 1985 to 2010, and had still owned the Paris Ritz - which he bought in 1979 - upon his death. But as in the case of media puppetmaster Max Clifford, security chief John Macnamara and Harrods doctor Dr Wendy Snell - many secrets died with him. Mohamed Al Fayed is accused of raping multiple women during his time as Harrods owner from 1984 to 2010 Mohamed Al Fayed pictured with Princess Diana at the charity dinner for the Harefield Heart Unit held at Harrods in February 1996 The current owners of luxury department store Harrods in London (pictured) issued a statement saying: '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' MAX CLIFFORD Self-styled media puppetmaster Max Clifford, fond of claiming half the biggest 'kiss and tell' stories in the tabloids came from him, represented the Harrods boss around the turn of millennium.
And he could not help boasting to an undercover documentary maker about his work for Al Fayed, bragging: 'It's like Mohammed you know, Harrods, who's 76 going on 18 when it comes to young ladies. He's a randy old sod. If he's groping 17-year-olds who are quite willing because they're being paid a lot of money, fine.
.. It's gone on for 15 years.
' In 2012 Clifford was exposed as a squalid predator himself. He died in 2017, aged 74, after collapsing in prison while serving a jail sentence for sex offences against girls aged 15 to 19. Just as Al Fayed is alleged to have done, Clifford used his status to groom and overawe victims, and he would prey on them in his own office.
Media puppetmaster Max Clifford, fond of claiming half the biggest 'kiss and tell' stories in the tabloids came from him, represented the Harrods boss around the turn of millennium WENDY SNELL Dr Wendy Snell worked full time as Harrods doctor – and according to new allegations monitored the production line of new girls Al Fayed selected. According to women who have spoken to the BBC, once hired to work closely with the businessman but before his first assaults, they would be sent for a medical with the in-house GP. One woman, named only as Cheska, claims that as a teenager in the 1990s, hired as a junior personal assistant to Al Fayed, she was told she needed a medical.
Cheska went on: 'I went to the doctor, thinking it was just going to be height, blood pressure...
but it wasn't. It was much more thorough. It was the first time I'd had a smear test.
It felt a bit uncomfortable in every respect. 'I just remember the doctor saying 'how wonderful' Al Fayed was, and 'Didn't he look after his employees?' Dr Snell died two years ago, aged 64. Dr Wendy Snell worked full time as Harrods doctor – and according to new allegations monitored the production line of new girls Al Fayed selected JOHN MACNAMARA Al Fayed's head of security John Macnamara, a former Met Police detective superintendent, is said to have been happy to use a gun to intimidate those who crossed his boss.
According to a former member of the tycoon's security team who spoke to the BBC, Macnamara 'was a nasty piece of work, he would threaten people and use his powers as an ex-copper. I know for a fact thathe knocked on someone's door and threatened them with a gun'. A victim who went to the press with her allegations in 1995 said she was threatened by Macnamara when he tracked her down before anything could be published: ' He said I wasn't to be involved in the article, and if I went against his advice, he knew where my parents lived.
It turned me cold.' Macnamara died five years ago aged 83. Al Fayed's head of security John Macnamara (right), a former Met Police detective superintendent, is said to have been happy to use a gun to intimidate those who crossed his boss Mohamed Al Fayed BBC London Share or comment on this article: What secrets did Mohamed Al Fayed's inner circle take with them to the grave? e-mail Add comment.
