Mohamed Al-Fayed, former Harrods owner whose son died with Princess Diana, ‘raped 5 women’: ‘He was vile’

Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted five women who worked at the department store. The billionaire died last year at the age of 94. Another 20 women who worked at Harrods from the late 1980s to 2000 have said he sexually assaulted them.

The women said the assaults occurred at the company’s offices, at Fayed’s London apartment or during foreign trips to the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Mohamed Al Fayed regularly visited the department store’s sales floors to identify young assistants he found attractive before isolating and attacking them. The allegations were outlined in a BBC documentary titled Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods.

In its statement, the broadcaster claimed that Harrods not only failed to intervene but also helped cover up the allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed. The current owners of the company said they were “absolutely horrified” by the allegations, emphasising that the company today is “completely different”.

Bruce Drummond, a lawyer representing several of the women, said: “The web of corruption and abuse at this company was unbelievable and very dark.”

One of Mohamed Al Fayed’s alleged victims, Sophia, who worked as his personal assistant from 1988 to 1991, said he tried to rape her more than once. “He was vile,” she said, adding: “People shouldn’t remember him like that. He wasn’t like that.”

Another alleged victim stayed at one of Al Fayed’s apartments instead of taking a taxi home at his insistence after working late at work at Harrods. He then invited her to his private apartment, where he asked her to sit on his bed, holding her leg tightly. She said: “Of course I made it clear I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t consent. I just wanted it to be over. I remember feeling his body on me, his weight. I just heard him making these sounds. And I just thought he was somewhere else.”

She said, “He raped me. Then you blame yourself. You’re there to do a job, and it’s your boss standing in front of you in a bathrobe. And so even when you try to get out of the situation, I try not to offend him.”

Mohamed Al Fayed was born in Egypt and was a businessman in the Middle East before moving to the UK in the 1970s. He took control of Harrods in 1985 and bought the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1979. He also owned Fulham FC from 1997 to 2013. His son Dodi died in a car crash in Paris along with Diana, Princess of Wales.