Beyond The Crown: 6 biggest Mohamed Al-Fayed scandals – the Netflix series dedicated an episode to Egyptian billionaire ‘Mou Mou’, Harrods’ former owner and dad to Princess Diana’s boyfriend Dodi
- Mohamed Al-Fayed is famous for owning Hotel Ritz Paris and formerly London’s Harrods department store and Fulham FC; he also played matchmaker between his son Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana
- Despite his billionaire status, Al-Fayed was denied British citizenship twice and was also accused of sexual assault in 2018 by three Harrods employees
Among the season’s 10 episodes is one dedicated to Egyptian businessman Mohamed al-Fayed, the billionaire owner of Hotel Ritz Paris. The episode, entitled “Mou Mou” after Al-Fayed’s nickname, focused on his struggle to fit into British high society and his unlikely friendship with Princess Diana over their “outsider” statuses.
Al-Fayed’s son Dodi would eventually become romantically tied with the Princess of Wales, and was her last boyfriend. He died alongside her in the tragic crash at the tunnel of the Pont de l’Alma in Paris in 1997.
So what do we know about the billionaire today?
True to The Crown, he did purchase Harrods to fit into British high society
Al-Fayed came from a long line of wealthy Egyptians. According to The New York Times, his family prospered in the 19th century by growing cotton along the Nile and shipping it to England. Al-Fayed eventually founded his own shipping company in Egypt before becoming a financial adviser to the Sultan of Brunei in 1996, Arabian Business reported.
Of his many ventures, it is the Hotel Ritz Paris and Harrods department store that are most associated with him. Time reported that the purchase of Harrods was one of many investments that Al-Fayed hoped would buy his way into British high society. He would also later purchase Punch Magazine and the Fulham FC football team.
His purchase of Harrods led to one of the greatest political scandals of the UK in the 1990s
