Harrods billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed ‘spied’ on customers in change rooms, new book claims

A former bodyguard for the late Harrods billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son had an affair with the late Princess Diana, has claimed he spied on customers using changing rooms.

A former bodyguard for Mohamed Al Fayed has claimed the late Harrods billionaire spied on customers using the changing rooms for decades.

The claim was made in a new book titled Monster of Harrods, where he said there was a “good chance” shoppers at the Knightsbridge store were being “watched” by the serial rapist.

The bodyguard known only as ‘Biggie’, said the store had cameras inside female staff toilets and locker rooms.

“People don’t talk about this – there were cameras right up to the entrance and slightly inside the changing rooms used by Harrods customers, which meant if you were in a Harrods changing room during the Fayed era, there was a good chance that he was watching you,” he said.

The cameras and phone tapping were said to have been ordered by the head of security ex-detective John Macnamara, according to the book.

Macnamara, allegedly nicknamed “Mac the Knife”, was the most trusted of Fayed’s security staff. He died in 2019.

“The guys looked at the screens as if their lives depended on it. But they also realised that many of the questions Macnamara asked were about females who had caught Fayed’s eye, so there was also a lot of sniggering as they watched women in changing rooms and toilets.”

Biggie worked as one of the very first so called “generals” in Al Fayed’s security detail for Harrods which he bought in 1985.

The late Mohammed Al Fayed. Picture: AP

Harrods responded to the claim in a statement to the Mail Online saying: “Nothing in our records suggest cameras existed in any staff or customer areas where personal privacy would have been compromised.”

The book’s author, Alison Kervin, interviewed 60 witnesses, survivors and former staff.

She said the cameras were “everywhere” and “working at Harrods was like living in the Truman Show”.

Another staff member, known as “the Engineer”, said there were “recording devices everywhere” and everything being transmitted was stored.

“I’d have to make sure they were working and we were picking up everything clearly … it was important that we did the recordings and kept everything properly filed,” he is quoted as saying. He said no one was “off limits”.

Fayed, whose son Dodi had a romantic affair with the late Princess Diana, sold the famous London store in 2010 to the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for a reported $2.9 billion.

Princess Diana with Mohammed Al Fayed attending a charity dinner for the Harefield Heart Unit held at Harrods, London, in February 1996. Picture: Getty

Since the Egyptian billionaire died in 2023, dozens of women have come forward alleging they were sexually abused by him.

He was accused of raping five women and sexually abusing at least 15 others when they worked at the luxury department store, a BBC investigation also revealed.

The London Metropolitan Police has been reviewing a total of 21 allegations made before the former Harrods boss died. No charges were ever brought against him before his death.

Harrods’ current owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed.

“As a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise,” Harrods previously said in a statement.

Originally published as Harrods billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed ‘spied’ on customers in change rooms, new book claims