Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son died in car crash with Princess Diana, dies at 94

Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed waves to the crowd before the English Premier League soccer match against Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage stadium, London, Nov. 15, 2008. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson, File)
Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Mohamed Al Fayed owner of Harrods department store, in London, tries on a tiara at the start of the January sales Jan. 3, 2001. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (AP Photo/Adam Butler, File)
Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Egyptian businessman and Ritz hotel owner Mohamed Al Fayed poses with his hotel staff in Paris, June 27, 2016. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, File)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Italian actress Sophia Loren, right, with Mohamed Al Fayed outside Al Fayed's Harrods store in Knightsbridge, London, on July 7, 1999. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - The late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, right, greeted by the then Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed as he arrives at the Knightsbridge store, in London, April 19, 1995. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (PA/PA Wire via AP, File)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by the then owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, in Windsor, England, on May 18, 1997. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Martyn Hayhow/PA via AP)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Mohamed Al Fayed leaves the High Court in London, Feb. 18, 2008, after giving evidence at the inquest into the death of his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Lewis Whyld/PA via AP, File)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed on Aug. 13, 2011, in London. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Anthony Devlin/PA via AP)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed in action on the pitch in London, April 16, 2005. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Andrew Parsons/PA via AP, File)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Madonna walks with Mohamed Al Fayed, left, as she arrives at The New School in West Heath, Kent, England, June 11, 2010, for Lawnfest, a charity fundraiser in aid of the bursary fund at the school. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP, File)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed celebrates his team's promotion to the Premier League, before the game against Sheffield at Craven Cottage, in London, Wednesday, April 16, 2001. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Toby Melville/PA via AP, File)
Britain Obit Mohamed Al Fayed FILE - American actress Lucy Liu joking with Mohamed Al Fayed as she holds two Pomeranian puppies priced £999.00 each, as she officially opened the Harrods January Sale, in London, on Jan. 3, 2005. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (Andy Butterton/PA via AP, File)
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FILE - Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed waves to the crowd before the English Premier League soccer match against Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage stadium, London, Nov. 15, 2008. Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died at age 94. His death was announced Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, by Fulham Football Club, which Al Fayed once owned. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson, File)(AP/Simon Dawson)

LONDON (AP) — Mohamed Al Fayed, the flamboyant Egypt-born businessman whose son was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, died this week, his family said Friday. He was 94.

Al Fayed, the longtime owner of Harrods department store and the Fulham Football Club, was devastated by the death of son Dodi Fayed in the car crash in Paris with Diana 26 years ago. He spent years mourning the loss and fighting the British establishment he blamed for their deaths.

“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 August 30, 2023,″ his family said in a statement released by the Fulham club. “He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones.″

Al Fayed was convinced Dodi and Diana were killed in a conspiracy masterminded by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He maintained the royal family arranged the accident because they did not like Diana dating an Egyptian. Al Fayed claimed that Diana was pregnant and planning to marry Dodi and that the royal family could not countenance the princess marrying a Muslim.

In 2008, Al Fayed told an inquest the list of alleged conspirators included Philip, two former London police chiefs and the CIA.

The inquest concluded that Diana and Dodi died because of the reckless actions of their driver — an employee of the Ritz Hotel owned by Al Fayed — and paparazzi chasing the couple. Separate inquiries in the U.K. and France also concluded there was no conspiracy.

Al Fayed’s relationship with the royal family was recently depicted in season five of “The Crown,” in which the billionaire, played by Salim Daw, gets to know Diana.

The son of a school inspector, Al Fayad was born on Jan. 27, 1929, in Alexandria, Egypt. After early investments in shipping in Italy and the Middle East, he moved to Britain in the 1960s and started building an empire.

At the height of his wealth, Al Fayed owned the Ritz hotel in Paris and Fulham soccer team in London as well as Harrods, the luxury department store in the capital’s tony Knightsbridge neighborhood.

The Sunday Times Rich List, which documents the fortunes of Britain’s wealthiest people, put the family’s fortune at 1.7 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) this year, ranking Al Fayed as the 104th richest person in the country.

Al Fayed first hit the headlines in the 1980s when he battled with rival tycoon “Tiny” Rowland for control of the House of Fraser group, which included Harrods.

Al Fayed and his brother bought a 30% stake in House of Fraser for 130 million pounds in 1985. They paid an additional 615 million pounds to take full control the following year.

That transaction sparked an investigation by the Department of Trade and Industry, which concluded Al Fayed and his brother had “dishonestly misrepresented their origins, their wealth, their business interests and their resources.” Despite those findings, the deal was allowed to go through.

Al Fayed was also a key player in the “cash for questions” scandal that roiled British politics in the 1990s.

Al Fayed was sued for libel by a British lawmaker, Neil Hamilton, after the businessman claimed he had given Hamilton envelopes of cash and a lavish stay at the Ritz in Paris, in return for asking questions in the House of Commons.

Hamilton’s lawyer, Desmond Browne, claimed the allegation was fantasy, saying: ″If there were Olympic medals for lying, Mr. Fayed would be a prime contender for a gold one.”

A jury found in Al Fayed’s favor in December 1999.

But he was never accepted by the British establishment. The government twice rejected his applications for citizenship, though the reasons were never released publicly.

Al Fayed bought underdog London soccer team Fulham in 1997, and spent lavishly on coaches and players to improve its performance. It was a success, with the club winning promotion to the Premier League in 2001.

Al Fayed was also friends with Michael Jackson and had a statue of the pop star erected outside Fulham’s London stadium in 2011, two years after Jackson’s death.

Never popular with Fulham fans, it was removed in 2013 by Al Fayed’s successor as team owner, Shahid Khan.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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