The late Mohamed Al-Fayed, a billionaire known for his connection to Princess Diana’s tragic passing, is under accusation of sexual misconduct, including rape, from numerous women and girls.

The Egyptian entrepreneur and former owner of the upscale Harrods department store in London is featured in a new BBC documentary titled “Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods.” Reports indicate that the BBC has gathered testimonies from 20 women and girls, with 13 survivors sharing their experiences of alleged abuse in the documentary. Al-Fayed passed away last year at the age of 94.

At the time these accusations emerged, he owned not only Harrods, but also the Ritz Paris hotel and Fulham FC, a British football club. The documentary aims to reveal “the scale and seriousness of these allegations” for the first time and implies that Harrods may have aided in concealing Al-Fayed’s wrongdoing.

Al Fayed’s ownership of Harrods spanned 25 years, from 1985 to 2010. A BBC News article released earlier today noted that the alleged incidents occurred in various locations, including London, St. Tropez in France, Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Paris, where his son tragically died.

An Associated Press report from last year explored Al-Fayed’s contentious theories regarding his son’s death alongside Princess Diana in a car accident in Paris, triggered by paparazzi, in 1997. The AP reported that Al-Fayed suspected a conspiracy led by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II.

Additional allegations mentioned in the AP’s coverage claimed that Diana was expecting Al-Fayed’s grandchild and intended to marry his son, but the royal family opposed the marriage due to her marrying a Muslim.

New owners of Harrods express their shock at Al-Fayed’s alleged misconduct

On Thursday, Harrods issued a statement regarding the allegations of abuse.

“We are shocked by the claims of abuse made against Mohamed Al Fayed. These actions illustrate an individual bent on misusing their power in any context, and we unequivocally condemn them,” the statement said. “We also recognize that during his ownership, we let down our employees who were victimized, and for that, we sincerely apologize.”

The statement further asserted that Harrods is “a completely different entity now than it was during Al-Fayed’s ownership,” acknowledging that while they “cannot change the past,” they are committed to ensuring such incidents do not happen again.

The organization noted that “after new information emerged in 2023 about historic claims of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, our priority has been to expedite the resolution of these claims.” They aim to prevent “protracted legal battles” for the women involved and plan to continue this process for both current and former employees.