Billionaire Mohammed Al Fayed reportedly died on August 30 weather. According to representatives of his family, “he passed away peacefully from old age.”
He is survived by his second wife, former Finnish model Heidi Waten, and their four children, Jasmine, Karim, Camilla and Omar.
The businessman was buried on September 1 after prayers at the Central Mosque in London’s Regent’s Park.
I started selling lemonade
Al-Fayed was born in Alexandria in 1929 in the family of a school teacher. He started his business as a child: he made and sold lemonade. He later became a sewing machine salesman. Al Fayed met his first wife, Samira Khashoggi, the sister of Saudi millionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, and then his business began. He found a job with his brother-in-law, met the right people in Egypt, and later, with his brothers, was able to open his own company, which transports cargo from Egypt. The business soon expanded with offices in Genoa and London.
In the mid-1960s Al-Fayed emigrated to England. In 1979 he bought the Ritz Hotel in Paris, and in 1984 he and his brothers owned 30% of the House of Fraser holding, which also included London’s famous shopping mall, Harrods. In 1985, they bought the entire holding. Al Fayed introduced a dress code for shoppers and erected a bronze memorial statue where Princess Diana and her son Dodi dance under the wings of an albatross. The entrepreneur said he wanted to one day be mummified and put in a golden sarcophagus that would be placed inside the glass pyramid on the roof of Harrods. However, in 2010 he sold the store to the Qatar State Investment Fund for £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion).
In 1997, the billionaire bought Fulham Football Club. In 2011 he erected a fan-favorite statue of Michael Jackson in the team’s home stadium, and his overall appearance came as a surprise, as the singer attended only one match involving Fulham.
Al Fayed responded to the criticism, “Some stupid fans can go to hell if they don’t understand or appreciate such a gift.”
The billionaire sold his football club to Pakistani entrepreneur Shahid Khan in 2013.
In the 90s, Al-Fayed was suspected of embezzlement and fraud. The investigation showed that the businessman provided false information about the source of the money he and his brother paid to the House of Fraser holding. His relatives denied all accusations. Five years later, Al-Fayed was denied British citizenship. He argued with the British government about this and threatened to move to France, which awarded him the highest civilian honor, the Légion d’honneur. In 1994, it was revealed that Al-Fayed paid politicians to lobby for parliamentary work.
Investigation into Princess Diana’s death
Al-Fayed has been involved in charity work and sponsored events attended by members of the Royal Family. In one of them, the billionaire met Princess Diana. In the summer of 1997, he invited the princess to spend their holidays on his yacht with the children William and Harry. Diana posed for a photo with Al-Fayed’s son Dodi in Saint-Tropez, after which rumors began to circulate about their love affair.
On August 31, 1997, Diana and Dodi were killed in a car accident in Paris. French police determined that the accident was the fault of the driver, Henri Paul, who got behind the wheel while intoxicated and lost control at high speed.
Al-Fayed spent 10 years proving that the car accident was not accidental. The billionaire claimed that Diana was pregnant with his son. Allegedly, Queen II. Elizabeth’s wife, Prince Philip, ordered the British secret services to kill the princess in order to prevent the princess from marrying a Muslim and having children with him. During the trial, he agreed with the jury’s decision that the couple had died due to the fault of the driver, giving up all legal attempts to prove his case.
“I leave the rest to God to avenge me,” said Al-Fayed.