Mohamed Al-Fayed, then the owner of Harrods department store, leaves the High Court in central London in March 2007.CHRIS YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images
The Egyptian-British billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, who hobnobbed with royalty and owned one of the world’s best-known stores, has been accused by more than 20 former employees of sexual assault and harassment spanning decades.
Several of the victims spoke in a BBC documentary about what it was like to work for Mr. Al-Fayed at Harrods, the London department store he owned from 1985 to 2010.
Many more women have since come forward, including multiple Canadians and others from around the world.
“Mohamed Al-Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever,” said one woman who was a teenager when she was assaulted.
The documentary, called Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods, was released on Thursday and it includes harrowing accounts of how Mr. Al-Fayed preyed on young store staff who he promoted as personal assistants and then sexually assaulted at his homes in London and Paris, and on business trips. Several women also said that Mr. Al-Fayed’s conduct was well-known inside the company, but no one intervened and some staff even covered for him.
Mr. Al-Fayed died last year at the age of 94. He was best-known for the love affair between his son, Dodi, and Diana the Princess of Wales. They died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 and Mr. Al-Fayed became obsessed with conspiracy theories that the Royal Family had arranged for the couple to be murdered.
His fame has been rekindled by the Netflix series The Crown in which he was portrayed as a gregarious, fatherly figure.
Several victims, who were identified in the documentary by their first names or with pseudonyms, said The Crown portrayal of him was hurtful. “That makes me angry, people shouldn’t remember him like that. It’s not how he was,” said Sophia, who worked as his personal assistant from 1988 to 1991.
From left, American attorney Gloria Allred, Natacha (no surname given) and barrister Maria Mulla, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' hold a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London on Sept. 20, 2024.Yui Mok/The Associated Press
Some also said that they still lived in fear of him. “Even now, this last few weeks, having to relive all those moments has brought back that fear,” said one of the victims named Gemma. “And I’m now walking around feeling terrified of somebody that’s dead because he just had that power over you and it’s mad that even today I’m petrified of someone that’s no longer alive.”
Mr. Al-Fayed sold Harrods to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for £1.5 billion, or $2.7-billion. In a statement released Thursday, Harrods’s owners said they were “utterly appalled by the allegations.”
“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 apologize,” the statement said.
The company added that for the past year it has been settling claims “in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved.”
Lawyers representing the victims said more former employees have come forward and they plan to release details about a legal claim against the company on Friday. “The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark,” said Bruce Drummond, one of the lawyers.
U.S. women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, who represented sexual assault victims of film producer Harvey Weinstein, is also expected to join the legal team.
Mr. Al-Fayed was a colourful and controversial character who courted the British upper class in a bid for status.
He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1929 and got his start in business flogging soft drinks on the city’s streets. His later business associates included Haitian dictator Papa Doc Duvalier and Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
He moved to London in 1974 and made a fortune in real estate, oil and shipping. He bought Harrods hoping it would vault him into the upper echelon of British society. A year later he signed a 50-year lease for Villa Windsor in Paris, the former home of Edward VIII and the Duchess of Windsor.
Questions surfaced over the years about his business dealings and his conduct. London police officers questioned him in 2009 and 2013 over allegation of sexual harassment, but the cases were dropped.
He kept a lid on any bad publicity with a team of lawyers and by launching a flurry of lawsuits.
He sued Vanity Fair for libel in 1995 over a story that quoted several former staffers who alleged sexual misconduct. The case was ultimately settled after the magazine agreed to destroy all of its evidence and refrain from doing any further stories.
In the documentary, Gemma said she reached a settlement with Harrods in 2009. Harrods agreed to pay her a sum of money but only if she signed a non-disclosure agreement and destroyed all of her evidence against Mr. Al-Fayed, including recordings she had made of his advances. However, she later discovered transcripts she’d made of the recordings.
“I’ve spent so many years being quiet and silent, not speaking up,” she said, “and I hope talking about it now helps. We can all start feeling better and healing from it.”