Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, has allegedly sexually assaulted at least 15 women and committed rapes against an additional five women while they worked at the upscale department store, according to the findings of a BBC investigation.
Nearly twenty women, all of whom had previously worked for Fayed, testified during a BBC program that he had sexually assaulted them and that Harrods had covered up the abuse.
The current store owners expressed their “utter appalling” disapproval of the charges and thanked the victims for their suffering.
At the age of 94, Fayed, who had sold Harrods in 2010, passed away last year. In his obituary, which was published, it was mentioned that during his lifetime, there were multiple claims of sexual harassment against female employees.
Fayed was accused of sexually assaulting a girl who was 15 years old in the store, but the Crown Prosecution Service opted not to press charges against him in 2009. When a woman claimed that he had sexually assaulted her at his Park Lane apartment after he had interviewed her for a job, the police questioned him in 2013. In 2015, the police resumed the investigation; however, they did not take any further action. Fayed consistently refuted the accusations.
In the recently released documentary titled Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, the claimed victims provide extremely specific details of the assault, some of which are captured on camera. The allegations state that the abuse occurred in Abu Dhabi, London, Paris, and Saint-Tropez, respectively.
According to one lady who spoke to the BBC, she was a teenager when she was raped in Fayed’s flat on Park Lane. In an interview with the BBC, she stated that Mohamed Al Fayed was a “monster,” a sexual predator who lacked any sense of morality.
The BBC was informed by three additional women that they had also been sexually assaulted by him in the flat. In front of the camera, a fifth lady who only goes by the name Gemma stated that Fayed sexually assaulted her at his flat in Villa Windsor, which is located in Paris, and then forced her to wash herself with disinfectant.
“Obviously, he wanted me to erase any trace of him being anywhere near me,” she said in an interview with the programme about her intentions.
The individuals who made the documentary claim that the women came forward after watching the Netflix series The Crown, in which Fayed was depicted in a sympathetic manner. The episodes in question focused on the personal relationship between Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi, Fayed’s son, as well as their deaths in a vehicle accident in the year 1997.
The BBC has only identified the lady as Sophia, but she claims that Fayed made multiple attempts to rape her while she was working as his personal assistant between the years 1988 and 1991. She stated to the BBC that “people shouldn’t remember him like that.” She was referring to Fayed’s performance in the production of The Crown.
In an interview with the BBC, Bruce Drummond, a barrister who represents several of the women, stated that “the spider’s web of corruption and abuse at this company was unbelievable and very dark.”
In a statement, Harrods said, “We are absolutely appalled by the allegations of abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed.” These allegations have truly shocked us. Since the person who carried out these actions was determined to abuse his power wherever he operated, we strongly condemn them. In addition, we realise that over this period of time, as a company, we failed our employees, who were the victims of his actions, and we truly apologise for this behaviour.
“The Harrods of today is a completely different organisation than the one that Al Fayed owned and controlled between the years 1985 and 2010; it is one that strives to put the welfare of our people at the centre of everything that we do.
“This is the reason why, ever since new evidence concerning old allegations of sexual assault by Al Fayed came to light in 2023, it has been our top objective to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding protracted court proceedings for the women who are involved. There is still the opportunity to participate in this process for any current or former Harrods workers.
Due to the values we uphold today, we have made a commitment to acting morally while also making sure that such behaviour won’t happen again in the future. This is despite the fact that we are unable to change the past.