February 12, 2025
Mohamed Al-Fayed dies: ‘Chariots of Fire’ supporter, Princess Diana’s confidant, owner of Harrods and the Ritz, aged 94

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Mohamed Al-Fayed, whose world-spanning professional career spanned Hollywood, Paris, London and his native Egypt, died on 30 August at the age of 94.

His significant business successes include owning the famous UK department store Harrods, the Ritz Hotel in Paris, and Fulham Football Club in the UK.

But those achievements have been almost eclipsed by her relationship with Al-Fayed’s son, Dodi, with whom she was in a relationship with Princess Diana, who died in a car crash on August 31, 1997.

Mohamed Al-Fayed’s role in that pairing, and his own friendship with Diana, was covered extensively in the most recent season of the Netflix series on the Royal Family. Crown. It also gives an ominous color to his death, which is so close to the anniversary of the fatal accident in which Dodi and Diana died.

In the years following the crash, al-Fayed faced criticism in Britain for claiming that the crash was an assassination ordered by the royal family and British Intelligence, who did it because the couple were to be married. The crash, reportedly caused by an attempt at speeding to avoid the paparazzi, was largely investigated without any evidence of al-Fayed’s allegations.

Al-Fayed formed a close relationship with the late Princess of Wales as they were involved with the same charity and attended similar events.

The announcement of al-Fayed’s death came after statements of his business assets.

“Everyone at Fulham was incredibly saddened to learn of the death of our former owner and chairman, Mohamed Al-Fayed. Fulham FC said in a statement on social media: “We are grateful to Mohamed for everything he has done for our club and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.”

The Egyptian tycoon sold the football club in 2013, shortly after selling it to Harrods in 2010. He bought the nearly bankrupt The Ritz Hotel in Paris for $30 million and invested $250 million in renovating the property.

Al-Fayed was born in 1929 in Roushdi, a neighborhood of Alexandria in the Kingdom of Egypt, as it was called before the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. He added the fancy prefix “Al” to his surname in the 1970s.

Before buying Harrods, he owned a shipping company in Egypt, eventually opening an office in London.

While al-Fayed was involved in his international businesses, his son Dodi was exploring Hollywood.

In 1979, al-Fayed established a film production company, Allied Stars Limited, appointing his son, Dodi, as chief executive.

Son’s venture resulted in seven Academy Awards in 1982, including Best Picture for Chariots of Fire. The rest of the company’s outputs did not fare as well at the box office.

Al-Fayed was married twice: first to Saudi Arabian writer Samira Khashoggi from 1953 to 1956, with whom he had a dodi.

In 1985, he married Finnish socialite and former model Henny Wathen, with whom he had four more children: Jasmine, Karim, Camilla, and Omar.

A funeral service was held at the London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park on Friday, following Islamic traditions of burying the dead as quickly as possible, ideally within 24 hours.

He was then buried in the family mausoleum at Barrow Green Court, his 17th-century country shack, in Oxted, Surrey, next to son Dodi.

Source: www.bing.com

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