Mohamed Al Fayed dies aged 94: Former Harrods and Fulham FC owner passes away nearly 26 years to the day since his son Dodi was killed in car crash with Princess Diana
Mohamed Al Fayed, the self-made billionaire who owned Harrods and Fulham FC, has died - almost 26 years to the day after his son was killed alongside Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris.
The Egyptian businessman was 94.
He was born in Alexandria in 1929 and moved to the UK in the 1960s, becoming an early driving force in the development of Dubai, and he later bought House of Fraser, including Harrods, with his brothers, as well as the Ritz hotel in Paris, which he owned up until his death.
A funeral service was held at London Central Mosque in Regents Park on Friday - following Islamic conventions to bury the dead as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours.
He was then buried at Barrow Green Court, his 17th century country pile, in Oxted, Surrey, at the family mausoleum next to son Dodi.
Mohamed Al Fayed pictured alongside Diana, Princess of Wales at a charity event held at Harrods in London in 1996
Mr Al Fayed with his son Dodi, who was killed in the same crash that killed Diana in 1997
Mr Al Fayed opened his own private investigation into the crash after being dissatisfied with the official investigations - and promoted a series of conspiracy theories alleging that the establishment had a hand in their deaths.
But a 2008 inquest concluded that Dodi and Diana were unlawfully killed by a combination of Paul's driving under the influence of alcohol, the fact neither were wearing seatbelts - and because of the erratic driving of paparazzi pursuing them through the early morning Paris streets.
Al-Fayed fell out with the British establishment after he was refused UK citizenship despite his vast business interests in the country.
He often threatened to move to France, which gave him the Legion of Honour, its highest civilian award.
He was later immortalised in Netflix series The Crown, played by Israeli actor Salim Daw, who will return to portray the businessman in the next series, which will deal with the crash that killed his son and the Princess of Wales.
One episode of the show charts Mr Al-Fayed's rise to fame and eventual meeting with Princess Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki.
Daw described him as an 'incredible, fascinating character' to play, telling Radio Times: 'He's so motivated to be on the top that this actually dictates the way he lives his life and the way he behaves.'
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