Mohamed Al Fayed, former Harrods owner, faced allegations of raping and assaulting his employees in 1980s to 2000s.
Late Egyptian billionaire and former owner of luxury department store Harrods, Mohamed al-Fayed, raped and sexually abused several of his former female employees, according to a recently released BBC documentary. The documentary, titled Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods, claims that al-Fayed raped five women and sexually abused at least 15 of his employees during their time working at the luxury department store. Notably, the billionaire passed away in 2023 at the age of 94. In 2010, he sold Harrods to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
What the victims told BBC?
According to the BBC, the affected individuals state that the supposed occurrences transpired in cities like London, Paris, Saint Tropez and Abu Dhabi. One female shared her unsettling experience of being assaulted as a teenager in al-Fayed’s residence, branding him a “beast” and an “immoral sexual predator”. Adding to this, three more women allege they were unfortunately violated by him within the same surroundings.
He Forced Me to Wash Myself with Disinfectant
The fifth woman revealed that al-Fayed raped her in Paris at his Villa Windsor apartment. He even made her wash herself with disinfectant. “Obviously he wanted me to erase any trace of him being anywhere near me,” she told the BBC.
The BBC Documentary
After seeing Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ where al-Fayed was presented in a sympathetic light, several women felt nudged to voice their experiences. An episode of this series draws attention towards the love story of Princess Diana and Dodi, al-Fayed’s son, which followed her split from Prince Charles. In 1997, the duo met a tragic end in a car crash, leading al-Fayed to initiate an extensive legal battle, blaming the British Royalty for their deaths. However, he couldn’t prove his clams.
What Harrods Responds
“We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed al-Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise,” Harrods said in a statement.
“The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by al-Fayed between 1985 and 2010; it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do,” it added.
“While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future,” the company further said.