Mohammed al-Fayed, father of Princess Diana’s last friend, has died

Mohammed al-Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire owner of the Harrods store and the father of Princess Diana’s companion Dodi al-Fayed, who died together in the Alma bridge accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, died. Fayed was 94 years old: He started his career selling soda and then worked as a sewing machine salesman. He built the family fortune in real estate, shipping and construction, first in the Middle East and later in Europe.

The turning point came when he met his first wife, Samira Khashoggi, the sister of Saudi millionaire Adnan Khashoggi, whom he hired in his import business in Saudi Arabia. The marriage lasted only two years, and in 1966 Al Fayed became an adviser to one of the richest men in the world, the Sultan of Brunei. Transfer to Great Britain in 1974. Five years later, he and his brother Ali bought the Ritz hotel in Paris for 20 million pounds. In 1985, after a fierce bidding war with the Lonrho mining group, it bought Harrods for £615 million. Under his ownership, Fulham FC advanced to the Premier League from third place.

Despite having iconic venues such as Al Fayed, Harrods, Fulham and the Ritz hotel in Paris, he was always seen as a foreigner in Britain, tolerated but not welcomed. He came at odds with the British government, which for decades refused to grant him citizenship in his home country, and he frequently threatened to relocate to France, which awarded him the Legion of Honor, its highest civilian honor.

After his eldest son, Dodi, died in a car crash with Princess Diana, Al Fayed spent years wondering about the circumstances of their deaths. For the past decade, al-Fayed has remained largely out of the public eye, living with his wife, Heini, at his estate in Surrey.

Source: Today IT

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