Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, whose son Emad El-Din “Dodi” Mohamed Fayed was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 along with Princess Diana, has died at the age of 94, his family announced Friday.
Billionaire Al-Fayed was the former owner of the luxury London department store Harrods. A self-made man who founded the Genevaco shipping company in the 1960s, Al-Fayed was at one time the owner of West London football club Fulham.
“Ms. Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday, August 30, 2023,” the family said in a statement on Friday Fulham. FC, he said, according to the Associated Press. “He enjoyed a long and fulfilling retirement surrounded by his loved ones.”
Al-Fayed left behind his wife, former Finnish model Heini Wathén, whom he married in 1985. Together, Al-Fayed and Wathén (68) had four children, daughters Jasmine (43) and Camilla (38) and sons Karim (40). ). and Omar, 35.
Mohammed Al-Fayed attended a charity dinner with Princess Diana in London in 1996. She died along with Al-Fayed’s son Dodi in a car accident in 1997.
Jayne Fincher/Getty
Pakistani-American billionaire Shahid Khan, Al-Fayed’s successor as owner of Fulham FC, released the following statement to the club’s official website:
“On behalf of everyone at Fulham Football Club, I send my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mohamed Al Fayed following the news of his death at the age of 94,” the statement began.
“The story of Fulham cannot be told without a chapter on the positive impact of Mr Al Fayed as chairman,” Khan’s statement continued. “His legacy will be remembered for our promotion to the Premier League, the Europa League final and moments of magic from players and teams. I always enjoyed my time with Mr Al Fayed, who was wise, colorful and committed to Fulham and I will forever grateful for his trust to succeed him as president in 2013.”
All about Doda Fayed, Princess Diana’s love at the time of her death
Al-Fayed was devastated by the death of his first-born son Dodi Fayed 26 years ago in a car accident in Paris that also killed Princess Diana. He spent the rest of his life mourning the loss and blaming the British royal family for their deaths.
In 2008, after a British inquest into their deaths, Al-Fayed said he was abandoning his legal battle for the sake of Diana’s sons, Princes William and Prince Harry, Reuters reported.
“I leave the rest to God to take revenge on me, but I’m not doing anything anymore,” he said then, according to the newspaper.
“I’m a father who lost a son and I’ve been doing all sorts of things for 10 years. But now with the verdict, I accept it, but with all the reservations I mentioned,” he said.
An inquest concluded that Diana and Dodi were unlawfully killed due to the gross negligence of their driver as photographers chased them through a Paris road tunnel.
The death of Princess Diana: her tragic car accident and its aftermath
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Georges De Keerle/Getty
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Before the inquest, Al-Fayed accused Prince Philip, Diana’s former father-in-law, of ordering British security services to kill her to prevent her from marrying Dodi, a Muslim.
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