Princess Diana’s friendship with ex-Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed was well documented due to their regular appearances together over the years. This relationship took on a tragic note when Diana and Mohamed’s son, Dodi, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Recently, this connection has resurfaced in the media after 20 former female employees of Harrods accused the late Egyptian billionaire of assault and physical violence. In light of such a poignant link between their mother and the Al Fayed family, a prominent Royal commentator has offered an insight into what Princes William and Harry may be experiencing in light of these recent allegations.
Former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond said: “I’m sure they both will have been as horrified as the rest of the world.
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“We don’t know much about their feelings about Mohamed Al Fayed… or indeed Dodi. William has never spoken about either, but Harry wrote in his book about his mother’s ‘friend’. He said that as long as their mother was happy, they had no problem with him.”
Reflecting on Prince Harry’s recollections in his memoir ‘Spare’ about Mohamed Al Fayed, Jennie commented: “Harry said both he and William were very impressed by laser pens from Harrods given to them by Mohamed. He wrote: ‘He was the father of mummy’s boyfriend, so maybe he was trying to win us over. If so, job done. We thought those lasers were genius. We whipped them around like lightsabers.'””I think they will now both be disgusted by the allegations, and by the memory of Mohamed Al Fayed cosying up to their mother and hoping his son would marry her,” reports OK!.
Jennie’s remarks follow claims from over 20 female ex-employees of the department store who have accused Mohamed Al Fayed of assault and physical violence at locations in London and Paris. Five women have alleged rape by Mr Al Fayed, who passed away last year aged 94.
At a press briefing held by the legal team for the alleged victims, Barrister Dean Armstrong KC labelled Al-Fayed as a “serial sexual abuser” with abuse that was “constant and repetitive” across 25 years.
He stated: “I have many years of practice… I have never seen a case as horrific as this,” during the press conference. He compared the case to those involving notorious figures such as Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
“Savile because in this case, as in that, the institution, we say, knew about the behaviour. Epstein because in that case, as in this, there was a procurement system in place to source the women and girls. As you know, there are some very young victims. And Weinstein, because it was a person at the very top of the organisation who was abusing his power. We will say plainly, Mohammed Al Fayed was a monster.”
A Harrods spokesperson said: “We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al 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. We are doing everything we can to fix this. The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.
“This is why, 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, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. 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. “