Mohamed Al Fayed: Former Harrods and Fulham FC owner has died at the age of 94
Mohamed Al Fayed has died at the age of 94.
His family say he “passed away peacefully of old age” on Wednesday.
Sky News understands Al Fayed was buried after Friday prayers at London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park.
The Egyptian-born businessman was best known as a former owner of the Harrods department store and Fulham football club in London.
Al Fayed’s son, the film producer Dodi Fayed, and Princess Diana died on 31 August 1997 when their car crashed in a road tunnel in Paris as they tried to outrun paparazzi photographers on motorbikes.
The news of Al Fayed’s passing comes just one day after the 26th anniversary of his son’s death.
He fought a long campaign after their deaths, alleging the crash was not an accident and that it had been orchestrated by the British security services.
However, French police concluded it was an accident, caused in part by speeding and by the high alcohol level in driver Henri Paul’s blood. A British police investigation concurred.
Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana. Pic: AP
His family said in a statement: “Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday 30 August, 2023.
“He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones. The family have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time.”
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He is survived by his second wife, Finnish former model Heidi Wathen, and their four children – Jasmine, Karim, Camilla and Omar.
Al Fayed sold Harrods to Qatar Holdings in May 2010.
Three years later, he also sold Fulham FC, to the US businessman Shahid Khan.
The club paid tribute to the businessman on Friday.
His successor as owner, Mr Khan, said: “On behalf of everyone at Fulham Football Club, I send my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mohamed Al Fayed upon the news of his passing at age 94.
“The story of Fulham cannot be told without a chapter on the positive impact of Al Fayed as chairman.
“His legacy will be remembered for our promotion to the Premier League, a Europa League Final, and moments of magic by players and teams alike.
“I always enjoyed my time with Al Fayed, who was wise, colourful and committed to Fulham, and I am forever grateful for his trust in me to succeed him as chairman in 2013.
“I join our supporters around the world in celebrating the memory of Mohamed Al Fayed, whose legacy will always be at the heart of our tradition at Fulham Football Club.”
Born in Alexandria in 1929, Al Fayed began his career selling fizzy drinks and then worked as a sewing machine salesman.
From sewing machine salesman to billionaire businessman
He built his family’s fortune in real estate, shipping and construction, first in the Middle East and then in Europe.
After moving to London in the 1960s, Al Fayed soon became a friend of royals and high society and purchased high-profile businesses such as the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1979 and Harrods in 1985.
He later bought Fulham in 1997 for £6.25m.
The Sunday Times Rich List 2021 reported Al Fayed and his family were worth around £1.7bn.
He became a friend of Princess Diana through his sponsorship of charities and events attended by Royal Family members.
He invited the princess, along with Prince William and Prince Harry, to holiday on his yacht in the summer of 1997.
Diana – who was divorced from Charles in 1992 – and Dodi were pictured together in St Tropez, sparking rumours of romance.
Queen Elizabeth II with Mohamed Fayed. Pic: Shutterstock
The billionaire’s relationship with the Royal Family was recently depicted in season five of The Crown, where Al Fayed, played by Salim Daw, was seen getting to know Diana.
The sixth series of the show, set to be released this autumn, will cover Dodi and Diana’s fatal crash.
Al Fayed was regularly shrouded in controversy.
He spent 10 years trying to prove Diana and his son Dodi were murdered.
Unsupported by any evidence, according to the inquest into Diana’s death, he claimed that she was bearing Dodi’s child and accused Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, of ordering Britain’s security services to kill her to stop her from marrying a Muslim and having his baby.
His takeover of Harrods sparked one of Britain’s most bitter business feuds, while in 1994 he caused a scandal with the disclosure that he had paid politicians to ask questions on his behalf in parliament.
He fell out with the British government over its refusal to grant him citizenship of the country that was his home for decades and often threatened to move to France, which gave him the Legion of Honour, its highest civilian award.
He has also been accused of sexual harassment by several former Harrods employees.
He bought Fulham FC in 1997
At Fulham, he erected a larger-than-life, sequined statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage even though the singer only attended one match.
When people complained, he said: “If some stupid fans don’t understand or appreciate such a gift, they can go to hell.”
He also installed a bronze memorial statue of Diana and Dodi dancing beneath the wings of an albatross at Harrods.
Even his name and date of birth were contentious.
He maintained he was born in 1933 but a British government inquiry into the Harrods takeover said 1929.
He also added the al to his name when he moved to the UK, leading the satirical magazine Private Eye to nickname him the “Phoney Pharaoh”.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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