‘Vile’: Billionaire tycoon’s shock rape claim

Rape allegations have emerged against a billionaire retail tycoon whose son was in a relationship with Princess Diana when she died.

Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son Dodi was in a relationship with Princess Diana when they both died in Paris, has been accused of using a royal mansion to rape and sexually assault victims.

Five women have alleged they were raped by the Egyptian billionaire, who died last year aged 94, and a further 20 female employees claim Mr Al Fayed sexually assaulted them across multiple locations, reports The Sun.

The new documentary – called Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods – hears claims from women who worked at ritzy London department store Harrods from the late 1980s to 2000s, after an investigation by the BBC.

Mohammed Al-Fayed in 2007 in London. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Female employees allege that assaults were carried out at different locations, including the company’s offices, in Mr Al Fayed’s London apartment, or on foreign trips often in Paris at the Ritz hotel.

And multiple women have even claimed that the billionaire raped or sexually assaulted them at “Villa Windsor” in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne park.

The lavish 14-room mansion was the home of post-abdication King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s luxurious French property featured on Netflix hit The Crown’s third season.

Mr Al Fayed took out a 50-year lease on the 14-room, 19th century villa and the Egyptian billionaire would go on to rename it the Villa Windsor after completing a $20.2 million restoration back in 1990.

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 – 1997) with Prince Charles during the Harrods Polo Cup at Smith's Lawn in Windsor, UK in 1987 presenting the prizes along with then Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed (right). (Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

Now, one woman named Gemma – who worked as one of his personal assistants between 2007 and 2009 – has claimed Mr Al Fayed raped her at the historic Parisian villa.

Gemma described waking up to find him attempting to get into bed with her, adding: “I told him, ‘No, I don’t want you to’”.

“And he proceeded to just keep trying to get in the bed, at which point he was kind of on top of me and [I] really couldn’t move anywhere.

“I was kind of face down on the bed and he just pressed himself on me.”

She told the BBC that after the Harrods tycoon raped her she cried, while he got up and told her aggressively to wash herself with Dettol.

“Obviously he wanted me to erase any trace of him being anywhere near me,” she explains.

Harrods department store in London which Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed used to own. AFP PHOTO CARL COURT

Mr Al Fayed – whose son Dodi died alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in Paris in 1997 – has become known to a new generation through being featured in The Crown as someone who became a confidant of Princess Diana.

But another alleged victim has claimed that his portrayal as pleasant and gregarious was far from the truth.

Speaking to the BBC, Sophia, who worked as his personal assistant from 1988 to 1991, said Mr Al Fayed tried to rape her more than once.

One of those attempts took place at the Villa Windsor where the Egyptian billionaire allegedly tried to force himself on her.

Sophia claims she had to kick and scream for him to get off.

She said: “He was vile”.

Diana, The Princess of Wales and Mohamed Al Fayed attend an event at Harrods. (Photo by Antony Jones/UK Press via Getty Images)

Speaking about his portrayal in The Crown, she said: “That makes me angry, people shouldn’t remember him like that. It’s not how he was.”

Following the allegations against its former owner, Harrods said in a statement to the BBC: “The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010”.

“IT is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.

“Since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible.

“This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees.

“While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.”

This story was published in The Sun and is reproduced with permission.

Originally published as ‘Vile’: Billionaire tycoon’s shock rape claim