Mohamed Al-Fayed, billionaire former Harrods owner who waged a war of words with Britain's royals, dead at 94

Mohamed Al-Fayed, the outspoken Egyptian tycoon who transformed the fortunes of two London institutions, the Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club, and waged a war of words with Britain's royals after his son was killed in a car crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 94.

"Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday August 30, 2023," the family statement, which was released by Fulham FC on Friday, said.

Al-Fayed forced his way into London's high society by purchasing a number of lavish establishments after arriving in the UK in the 1970s, and also owned the storied Ritz Hotel in Paris for four decades.

But he proved an increasingly controversial figure during his public fight for British citizenship, and even more so after the death of Diana and his son, Dodi Fayed, in Paris in 1997.

Al-Fayed for decades insisted the pair were murdered, despite inquiries finding otherwise, and was scornful towards the British royal family in his later life.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1929, Al-Fayed seized the entrepreneurial opportunities handed to him during his brief marriage to Samira Khashoggi, a Saudi author and sister of billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

After working with Adnan Khashoggi and setting up his own shipping company, Al-Fayed moved to London and began piecing together an expansive real estate portfolio that focused on luxury destinations.