Featured Image Credit: Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
Topics: Princess Diana, Royal Family, UK News, Celebrity, Money
Ella Scott
Topics: Princess Diana, Royal Family, UK News, Celebrity, Money
Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and sexual assault which some readers may find distressing
The father of Dodi Fayed, the Egyptian film producer who died in a high-speed car crash with Diana, Princess of Wales, reportedly channelled ‘millions’ into trying to uncover information related to their deaths before his demise.
On August 31, 1997, Dodi and Diana were involved in a devastating car accident in the Ponte de l’Alma tunnel in France.
The pair were being driven in a Mercedes-Benz W140 by Henri Paul, who investigators later found was intoxicated by alcohol and under the effects of prescription drugs.
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Diana, Dodi and Henri Paul were all killed as a result of the crash.
An official Metropolitan Police investigation found that Dodi and Diana’s vehicle, which also contained the former’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones - the sole survivor - was being chased through Paris by paparazzi, eventually ruling the car crash as an unlawful killing.
The royal, who divorced from Charles, the former Prince of Wales and now King of Britain, in 1996, is still mourned across the globe.
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Over the years, some conspiracy theorists have convinced themselves that Diana’s death was an alleged inside job.
One person who reportedly dug deeper into her and Dodi's demise was Mohamed Al-Fayed, the former Harrods owner who last year was accused of raping ex-employees.
Mohamed was not charged before his death in 2023.
The Egyptian businessman is said to have spent millions hiring secret service agents from his native country to investigate his son and his famous love interest at the time, according to reports.
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It’s understood that the billionaire businessman had grown convinced that the British royal family feared the idea of Diana’s eldest son, William, the Prince of Wales, having a ‘Muslim brother in the future’.
The Telegraph reported that Mohamed funnelled ‘some millions of pounds’ through various holding companies and commercial businesses to fund agents and informants run by the Egyptian general intelligence service, known as the Mukhabarat, in London.
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“His papers and documents on the subject of Dodi and Diana were so huge they crossed continents, and any information the Egyptian SIS could have provided would have been very welcome to him.”
Despite his conspiracy theories, Mohamed's claims were discredited once Operation Paget, led by Sir John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner, was concluded on April 7, 2008.
"Our conclusion is that, on the evidence available at this time, there was no conspiracy to murder any of the occupants of the car,” Stevens said at the time.
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An alleged source said that the Egyptian secret services agents ‘told him the British establishment had not liked her relationship with Dodi, but they said to him that they had no information to offer him about the way Dodi and Diana had died.’
“In fact, agents warned Fayed about his behaviour in continuing to make loud claims about MI5 and MI6 having a role in their deaths.”
One of Mohamed’s surviving sons, Omar, told the publication that his father was a ‘very generous man’ as well as an ‘information addict’.
Omar claimed he ‘always wanted to know what had happened to Dodi and Diana, despite reconciling himself to ‘let God sort it out’.
Last year, Mohamed was accused of sexually assaulting or raping ex-female employees of Harrods.
Testimony from alleged victims of the Fulham FC owner featured in the BBC documentary, Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods.
On Tuesday (July 22), the luxury department store confirmed that more than 100 alleged victims had entered a compensation scheme opened by Harrods on 31 March.
Eligibility for the scheme has also been extended to employees of one of Fayed's private airline companies, Fayair (Jersey) Co Ltd, Harrods said, as per BBC.
In a statement, Harrods said: “We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.”
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera has been employed by the business as an ‘Independent Survivor Advocate’, whose job it is to ‘provide the appropriate support and prioritise the well-being of survivors’.
“It is crucial that survivors have the option of an independent voice in this process; thus, the Survivor Advocate will serve as a point of contact, empowering individuals to connect with someone outside of Harrods during the claims process.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818.