Egyptian billionaire, Mohamed Al-Fayed, who was known as the former owner of Harrods department store, Fulham football club, and as the father of Dodi Fayed, who tragically died with Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997, passed away on Friday, September 1 in London at the age of 94.
According to Al Jazeera Egypt, he was buried after Friday prayers following a service at Regent’s Park Mosque in London.
It was reported by Al Shorouk newspaper that Ashraf Haider, a member of his family, wrote: “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 relocated to the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s and amassed his fortune in the world of business. He tied the knot with Samira Khashoggi in 1954 and they had one son, Emad, also known as Dodi. The couple parted ways in 1956.
Al-Fayed is most famously recognized for his ownership of Harrods, which he purchased in 1985 and later sold to Qatar in 2010 for $2.4 billion. Additionally, he held ownership of the Ritz Paris Hotel and Fulham Football Club.
In 2013, Al Fayed sold Fulham Football Club to US auto parts billionaire Shahid Khan for a reported $300 million.
Dodi, his eldest son, was in a close friendship with Princess Diana for about a decade before their romantic relationship evolved during a yacht holiday in the south of France.
However, their dreams of a future together were tragically cut short as they lost their lives together in a car crash in Paris.
Al-Fayed was known for his outspoken criticism of the British royal family, as he firmly believed that they were involved in the deaths of his son Dodi and Princess Diana in the 1997 car crash.
He expressed his belief that the couple were intentionally killed, stating, “because they still don’t accept that Dodi, my son, an Egyptian, a Muslim, can be the stepfather of the future king,” during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia.
