Image: EPA/David Cheskin
Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of the London luxury department store Harrods and the football club Fulham FC, is dead. The Egyptian businessman died at the age of 94, as Fulham announced on its website on Friday evening. Al Fayed was also known worldwide through his eldest son Dodi Al Fayed’s liaison with the late Princess Diana. The two died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Mohamed Al Fayed died peacefully on Wednesday, according to a family statement distributed by the football club. “He had a long and fulfilling retirement surrounded by his family,” it said.
Mohamed Al Fayed never quite got over Dodi’s death. From the outset, the entrepreneur had repeatedly expressed his belief that his son and Diana had been murdered with the involvement of British intelligence. In his opinion, the then Prince Consort Philip, the husband of British Queen Elizabeth II, was behind the alleged plans.
Mohamed Al Fayed was born in Egypt. Since the 1960s, however, he has mainly been active as an entrepreneur in Great Britain. Fulham bought Al Fayed in 1997. The club was promoted to the Premier League in 2001. In 2013, Al Fayed sold it to Pakistani entrepreneur Shahid Khan.
Now Fulham paid tribute to its former owner on its website: “Everyone associated with Fulham owes a debt of gratitude to Mohamed for what he has done for our club. Our thoughts are with his family and friends now at this dark time.”
Al Fayed is survived by his wife Heini Wathen and their four children. His son Dodi came from his first marriage to Samira Khashoggi.
Source: Nachrichten
