Mohamed Al-Fayed, Father of Princess Diana’s Late Beau Dodi, Dead at 94

The successful Egyptian-born tycoon amassed a wealth of an estimated $2 billion by the time of his death. He also never stopped mourning the death of his son, which led him to spiral into conspiracy theories regarding the fatal car crash.

Egyptian-born billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed died on August 30. He was 94 years-old.

“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,” the family statement, released Friday by the Fulham Football Club, said. “He enjoyed a long and fulfilling retirement surrounded by his loved ones.″

Globally, people know al-Fayed as the father of Princess Diana’s beau, Egyptian film producer Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena’em Fayed, or simply: Dodi. Following a raucous split, and subsequent divorce from her husband—who is now England’s King Charles III— Princess Diana and Dodi were killed in a car crash in Paris, France, in 1997 on August 31. Diana was 36 years-old, while Dodi was 42.

But before Fayed became famous for his son’s relationship with Princess Diana, he already had a rather complex life in business. He was born in the town of Alexandria in Egypt to a poor primary school teacher, though his date of birth (and even his name) have been disputed. When he turned 45, he added the prefix “al” to his name, as it sounded more aristocratic.

His first business dealings began when he was a child. His “career” kicked off when he began selling Coca-Cola on the streets, as well as working as a sewing-machine salesman. During a two-year marriage to Samira Khashoggi, Dodi’s mother, he began to work for his brother-in-law, Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian arms dealer and businessman.

Khashoggi gave him an import-export role in Saudi Arabia, arranged for introductions for lucrative investments in the United Arab Emirates in the early 1960s, and introduced Fayed to Haitian dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. The friendship with Duvalier led to the construction of a Fayed-Duvalier oil refinery in Haiti.

Police services prepare to take away the damaged car in the Pont d'Alma tunnel in Paris in which Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed were traveling in this Sunday, Aug. 31, 1997

© AP Photo / JEROME DELAY

Then, by the mid-1960s, Fayed and his two younger brothers moved to England to oversee their growing conglomerate in oil, construction and shipping; however, Fayed reportedly struggled to fit in. Despite his enormous wealth, he was never granted UK citizenship nor allowed in the upper crust of British society.

In 1979, he purchased the struggling Ritz hotel, directly from the Ritz family. After a $20 million purchase, Fayed renovated the hotel. Later, the hotel would become the last location that Dodi and Diana left alive.

"When I bought the Ritz, I had in mind to refurbish the hotel in César Ritz’s image—to do things here that would excite me and at the same time make Monsieur Ritz proud of his place if he were to see it today. It took us years, but I’m sure we brought a smile to Monsieur Ritz’s face. It was a joyful experience," Fayed told an American magazine in 2012.

Six years later, Fayed made another purchase, this one being more controversial. Fayed and his brother, Ali, purchased the House of Fraser group for close to $775 million. That group owns a department store almost as British as The Union Jack: Harrods.

Following the death of Diana and Dodi, Fayed commissioned two memorials to the couple at the store. Though he was committed to Harrods, and even joked about being buried there one day, he sold Harrods in 2010 to the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for a reported $2.2 billion. The sale, he said, was due to his annoyance with British bureaucracy and a desire to slow his work pace. Though, the billionaire was also plagued by sexual harassment cases by women he had employed at Harrods.

In 1997, Fayed also purchased the West London professional football club Fulham FC for nearly $8 million.

FILE - Diana, Princess of Wales, right, and her companion Dodi Fayed, walk on a pontoon in the French Riviera resort of St. Tropez in this Friday, Aug. 22, 1997.

© AP Photo / Patrick Bar

Following the tragic death of his son and Princess Diana, Fayed fanned conspiracy theories that their car crash was not an accident—even going so far as to accuse then-Prince Philip of ordering Princess Diana’s death in order to stop her from marrying his son, a Muslim. This conspiracy theory was shared by the Arab world, including political leaders such as Libyan president, Muammar Gaddafi.

After publicly accusing the British royal family, as well as the British intelligence services of killing his son and Princess Diana, in 2008 Fayed abandoned his search for answers. That year a British inquest ruled that Princess Diana and Dodi were unlawfully killed by the gross negligence of their chauffeur and the paparazzi photographers pursuing them.

After explaining he was tired from pursuing his legal battles, Fayed added he would no longer pursue the case for the sake of Princess Diana’s sons, William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

“I’m leaving the rest for God to get my revenge, but I’m not doing anything any more,” he said at the time.

“I’m a father who lost his son and I have done everything for 10 years. But now with the verdict, I am accepting it but with all the reservations which I have mentioned,” he said.

Fayed is survived by his wife, former Finnish model Heini Wathén, 68, whom he married in 1985, as well as their four children.