Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, who was known for his ownership of Harrods department store and Fulham football club, and as the father of Dodi Fayed, who died alongside Princess Diana in a car accident in 1997, has died at the age of 94. He passed away on Friday, September 1, in London.
According to reports, Al-Fayed was laid to rest after Friday prayers following a service at Regent’s Park Mosque in London.
Ashraf Haider, a family member, confirmed the news in Al Shorouk newspaper, saying, “My wife’s grandfather, the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, has died. We belong to God and to Him we shall return.”
Mohamed Al-Fayed was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1929. He moved to the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s and built a successful business career, amassing his wealth through a variety of ventures.
Mohamed Al-Fayed married Samira Khashoggi in 1954. They had one son together, Emad, who was also known as Dodi. The couple divorced in 1956.
Al-Fayed’s most famous business acquisition was Harrods, which he bought in 1985 and sold to Qatar for a whopping $2.4 billion in 2010. He also owned the Ritz Paris Hotel and Fulham Football Club.
Al-Fayed sold Fulham Football Club to American businessman Shahid Khan in 2013 for a reported $300 million.
Dodi Fayed, Al-Fayed’s eldest son, had a long-standing friendship with Princess Diana before their romantic relationship began to blossom during a yacht trip in the south of France. However, their lives were tragically cut short in a fatal car accident in Paris, preventing them from spending their futures together.
Al-Fayed never wavered in his belief that the British royal family was involved in the deaths of his son Dodi and Princess Diana in the 1997 car accident.
In an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Al-Fayed expressed his belief that Dodi and Diana were intentionally killed because of societal prejudices against their relationship, stating, “because they still don’t accept that Dodi, my son, an Egyptian, a Muslim, can be the stepfather of the future king.”