Mohamed Al Fayed 'had begun to accept Diana and Dodi's deaths were an accident'
Mohamed Al Fayed had reportedly started to accept that Princess Diana and his son’s deaths were an accident, before he passed away.
The former Harrods and Fulham FC owner was said to be haunted by conspiracy theories around the couple's death in 1997. Aged 94, Mr Al-Fayed, born in Egypt, died on Wednesday, shortly before the 26th anniversary of the Paris crash that killed Dodi, 42, Diana, 36, and Henri Paul, who had been driving.
His son and Diana had been dating when they died. Mr Al-Fayed was buried at his family’s estate in Oxted, Surrey, next to his son. In the 2008 inquest into Princess Diana's death, Mohamed claimed that Diana was killed because she was pregnant with Dodi's baby at the time of her death, and that the couple had been planning to announce their engagement.
He said in court: "I am the only person they told.” However a post mortem found that Diana was not pregnant and her friends also claimed that it wasn't possible. During the inquest, Mohamed also branded Prince Philip a "Nazi" and a "racist" and said: "It's time to send him back to Germany where he comes from."
Diana and Dodi walking along a pontoon in St Tropez, less than ten days before she would die (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Princess Diana with Mohammed Al Fayed attending a charity dinner for the Harefield Heart Unit held at Harrods, London, February 1996 (Getty Images)He accused an array of people and organisations of being implicated in the alleged conspiracy to kill Diana and Dodi, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Diana's sister Sarah McCorquodale and her husband Robert Fellowes, French toxicologists, French ambulance drivers, the car's driver Henri Paul, two former London police chiefs, three bodyguards, and even some of Diana's closest friends.
Princess Diana's plans to move to US before she died - and she 'wanted her ex'
The inquest found that Diana and Dodi were unlawfully killed in the crash but no plot was uncovered. His relationship with the Royal Family remained soured for years, but softened slightly after Prince William extended an olive branch to him. In more recent years, he reportedly came to believe his son and Diana’s death was an accident.
Ex-PR executive Chester Stern, represented the billionaire from 2001 to 2004 and remained a friend of his. He told The Sun on Sunday: “He backed off it being a direct conspiracy led by Prince Philip in more recent years. This suggests he was quietly beginning to accept it was an accident.”
Mr Stern added that the conspiracy theories were “almost an obsession” for Mr Al Fayed and he “backed off it being a direct conspiracy led by Prince Phillip”. He added that: “He didn’t publicly accept that it was an accident but he may have privately accepted it. The fact he stopped pushing the conspiracy theory and Prince Philip would suggest he was quietly beginning to come to terms with it.”
However, he continued his legal action against paparazzi who had chased the car. Mr Al Fayed had taken control of Harrods in 1985 and he had also purchased the Ritz hotel in Paris in 1979; and was known for being the owner of Fulham FC between 1997 and 2013.
In a statement released today by Fulham FC, his family said: "Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday August 30, 2023. He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones. The family have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
