Fatshimetrie – London’s prestigious department store Harrods said on Thursday it was “deeply shocked” by allegations of abuse – including rape – by its former owner, the late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed.
More than 20 former Harrods employees have accused Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, of sexually assaulting them, according to an in-depth BBC investigation. One said she was assaulted when she was 15, while Al Fayed was 79. Harrods acknowledged that Al Fayed was “determined to abuse his power wherever he operated”.
The alleged assaults are said to have taken place in a variety of locations, including Al Fayed’s luxury London apartment, the Ritz Hotel in Paris, owned by Al Fayed, and a Parisian villa rented by Al Fayed called Villa Windsor, known for being the primary residence of the Duke of Windsor, a former British king, and his wife, for decades.
Al Fayed’s son, Dodi Fayed, died in 1997 along with Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash in Paris.
Former Harrods employees have told the BBC that Al Fayed’s behaviour towards women was known throughout the department store, with one former department manager saying “it wasn’t even a secret”.
“I knew it and I think if I knew it, everyone knew it. Anyone who says otherwise is lying,” former department manager Tony Leeming said.
In 2008, Al Fayed denied allegations of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16. Police said the alleged assault took place at a business address in central London.
Harrods apologised to the victims in a statement, adding that “the Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010”.
“We are deeply shocked by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed,” the company said. “These were the actions of an individual who sought to abuse his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms. We also recognise that at that time as a company we failed our employees who were his victims and for that we sincerely apologise.”
Harrods said that in 2020, “new information came to light” about historical allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed. Since then, it said, “our priority has been to resolve claims as quickly as possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. This process is still available to current and former Harrods employees.”