For years Mohamed Al Fayed was known as a flamboyant businessman marked by personal tragedy. The former owner of Harrods department store, Fulham FC and the Ritz Paris was father to Dodi Fayed, who died in the car crash that killed Princess Diana. But today Al Fayed is rightly remembered as something else entirely – a prolific sexual predator.
The scale of his crimes is staggering. There are more than 400 known survivors, with more women still coming forward. The Metropolitan Police is investigating almost 150 allegations.
Al Fayed is accused of numerous counts of rape and sexual assault – as well as drugging women he planned to assault and trafficking them across international borders. His crimes are now rightly seen as one of the worst ever corporate sexual abuse scandals. This was abuse on an industrial scale.
Al Fayed died in August 2023, aged 94. He escaped justice. But he did not act alone – and his network of enablers can still be held to account. Who were the people who helped this billionaire to systematically abuse hundreds of women?
There was his security team, led by John MacNamara, a former Metropolitan Police detective, who tailed and threatened women Al Fayed had abused to enforce their silence.
There were the lawyers who churned out non-disclosure agreement after non-disclosure agreement and failed to sound the alarm.
There were Harley Street doctors who Al Fayed hired to carry out invasive medical exams, including STI testing, without informing the women what they were being tested for – and with results delivered straight to Al Fayed.
And there were senior Harrods staff who at best turned a blind eye – and at worst groomed young girls for their boss.
This abuse was not the work of one man – it was a machine built to facilitate the rape and assault of women on a sickening scale
The scale of Fayed’s crimes also raises serious questions for the Met and the Crown Prosecution Service. More than 20 women approached the Met with allegations against Al Fayed during his life. Survivors say their concerns were brushed under the carpet. The force is now investigating its own conduct, under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Meanwhile the Crown Prosecution Service has admitted that it was twice handed evidence against Al Fayed by the Met – and failed to prosecute him. We need to know why.
Survivors have already waited too long for justice – the earliest known allegation against Al Fayed dates back to 1977, almost fifty years ago. Their wait must end. That’s why we’ve brought MPs together, cross party, to stand with survivors in their fight – and to help them hold those in positions of power to account.
We came to this issue in different ways. For Dave, it was through his constituent Keaton Stone – the man whose research underpinned the BBC documentary on Al Fayed’s abuse that blew open the story last year. Keaton, whose wife Sophia is a survivor, has spent years meticulously gathering evidence against Fayed. He asked Dave to champion the cause in Parliament.
Wendy on the other hand is a former police officer with sexual offences training – the only woman in the Commons with this experience. She has used her platform to advocate for women and girls, making Parliament a safer place to work, and to oppose corruption within the police. As a result, she was approached to become a parliamentary champion for survivors.
We've joined forces to form an All-Party Parliamentary Group on the issue – essentially, a campaign group for MPs.
Our first priority is the Met’s ongoing investigation. This is an opportunity to pursue all those who enabled Al Fayed – and the force must cast the net as wide as possible. After decades of delay, this needs to happen fast. Officers must work swiftly to bring charges. Survivors are understandably wary, given the ways they’ve been let down by the Met in the past. We’ll help them to keep tabs on the investigation, and make sure their questions are answered.
Civil claims against Harrods are also important. Hundreds of women are seeking compensation for the abuse they suffered. For survivors, this isn’t about money – no amount could ever make up for the trauma they underwent at Al Fayed’s hands. It’s about recognition that their employer should have kept them safe – and that it failed to do so. Those cases should be dealt with swiftly.
And Harrods needs to make clear what it has done to change the toxic culture that allowed this to happen. The department store has been under new ownership since 2010 – but some members of its senior team have been in post since the Al Fayed days. Survivors must have proof that the Harrods of today has been entirely transformed.
This abuse was not the work of one man – it was a machine built to facilitate the rape and assault of women on a sickening scale. Fayed’s businesses, the Met and the Crown Prosecution Service are all implicated. That’s why, ultimately, we must have a full inquiry into the scandal. Survivors deserve answers. The public should know the whole truth. And we must learn lessons so that crimes like this can never happen again.
Dave Robertson MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP are co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Survivors of Fayed and Harrods
