A woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed has said she wants to “change the legacy of a man who really was a monster”.
Natacha, who began working for the former Harrods owner when she was 19, described the escalating abuse she experienced from her then boss at a news conference on Friday.
Survivors “didn’t really realise” what was going on at the time, feeling that the assaults were part of the job, Natacha said.
“I have daughters and nieces and the thought of that happening to them at [a] tender age is just awful,” she said.
Warning: this story contains details some may find distressing.
“It feels odd after all these years to be able to speak about it,” Natacha told the BBC’s Helena Wilkinson at the press conference, organised by a legal team representing survivors.
The case against Harrods’ current owners, who the lawyers argue are liable for damages, was outlined at the conference.
The current owners of the department store, who did not own it at the time of the allegations, said they were appalled by the accusations.
“The Harrods of today is a very different organisation,” the company said in a statement.
The department store has a compensation scheme for ex-employees who say they were attacked by Fayed. The company has already reached financial settlements with the majority of people who have approached them since 2023.
More have contacted Harrods since a BBC investigation heard testimony from more than 20 women who said they were sexually assaulted by the billionaire.
Natacha, who has partially waived her anonymity, told the news conference: “It feels good to change the legacy of a man who really was a monster.”
She was “just 19 years old: young, naïve and totally innocent” at the time she began working for Fayed in a “supporting role” to his private personal assistant.
Following an interview with Fayed in his office, Natacha “got the job straight away”. She said she felt she had been given the chance of a lifetime.
The former Harrods boss was “clever and highly manipulative”, seeking to put his victims at ease by discussing his family, Natacha said.
He often told staff to “call me papa”, Natacha said.
At the time, Natacha interpreted Fayed’s generosity towards her – he gave her money for new work clothes and gifts for her parents – as “a perk of working for such a powerful man”.
“Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion’s den,” she said.
Fayed targeted his “most vulnerable” employees, including those who needed to pay their rent, and those who didn’t have parents to support them, Natacha said.
The atmosphere in the office was “very secretive”, Natacha said, describing how she was “actively discouraged” from making friends.
Fayed subjected his victims to “unnecessary and intrusive” sexual health examinations, Natacha said.
The tests were carried out by doctors, and while the medical exams were presented as a perk, many women did not see their own results, the BBC investigation revealed.
“[I] now believe in hindsight I was checked for my purity,” Natacha added.
Over time, “private meetings” with Fayed became increasingly threatening.
He would subject victims to a “forced kiss… or pulling you down on his lap”, Natacha said, describing how the encounters left her “paralysed” by fear.
“It was an era when women were still the underclass in the working world,” Natacha said.
She described being “summoned” to Fayed’s private apartment one night on the pretext of a job review. “The door was locked behind me,” she said.
Fayed handed Natacha a glass of champagne. Through the open door “there were sex toys on view” in his bedroom, she said.
Fayed then “pushed himself onto me”, Natacha said, describing how she managed to “kick free” of him and run to the door.
He threatened Natacha that if she told anyone about the attack, she would “never work in London again”, adding he knew where her family lived.
The assault affected Natacha’s life for “many years to come”, impacting both her private and professional relationships, she told the conference.
Fayed died in August 2023. Reading his obituary triggered “huge emotion” for Natacha, who “couldn’t believe that this monster had gotten away with his crimes”.
“Thankfully today, this is a different story, and I am truly grateful for that”, she said.
If you are affected by issues of sexual assault you can contact the BBC Action Line here.