21 September 2024, 19:26
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The former head of Royal protection has said he warned the Palace about Mohamed Al Fayed’s reputation before Princess Diana took her sons on holiday with the Egyptian businessman.
Five women have alleged they were raped by Fayed, the former owner of Harrods who died last year at the age of 94, with more than 30 others accusing him of other sexual abuse.
At least 150 more women then came forward with sexual assault claims against Fayed after a press conference was held about the allegations, a lawyer for alleged victims has told LBC.
But Dai Davies, who was head of Royal protection and was responsible for Queen Elizabeth II’s safety, says he and others were aware of Fayed’s reputation as far back as the 1990s.
He said he raised concerns about him to the Royal Family when Diana took her sons Prince William and Harry on holiday with him to St Tropez.
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“This was a man who I would be concerned [about] if a relative of mine was going on holiday with him, let alone the future king and his brother and their mother, Princess Diana,” Mr Davies told Sky News.
Diana went on holiday with Fayed and his wife to the couple’s home in the French Riviera just months before she died in July 1997.
The young princes joined her, with Harry describing the time as “heaven” in his 2023 memoir Spare.
“I was horrified because I was aware of some of the allegations even then that were going around,” Mr Davies told the broadcaster.
“I was aware that he had tried very hard to ingratiate himself with the Royal Family and obviously knowing, as I did, the reputation he was alleged [to have] then, I was concerned, and I took the opportunity to inform the Royal Family.”
After notifying the Palace, Mr Davies said he was told: “Her Majesty is aware.”
Buckingham Palace did not comment on the allegations, the broadcaster said.
Following the revelations, former Harrods employees called for the department store’s bosses to be questioned over “collusion” with the alleged misconduct by Fayed.
The enquiries – which are revealed in the BBC documentary on Al Fayed – relate to a “mix of survivors and individuals with evidence about Al Fayed”, a spokesperson for the team said.
A former Harrods employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme of “enablers” at the luxury store who were “as guilty as Al Fayed because they were not just passive onlookers”.
The woman, who said she worked for Harrods in a “very junior role” when she was 21, added: “They were actually helping to send girl after girl into a total nightmare.
“I think that some individuals should be identified and that they should be questioned into their collusion.
“It is essentially grooming, as the evidence suggests, and they should face justice.”
In its statement, Harrods said it was “utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse” and that they were “the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated”.
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Referencing this, the store’s former employee said: “I know Harrods said in their statement that these are the actions of an individual but actually I think it also shows the inaction of multiple people and leaders.”
The woman said she was invited into Fayed’s office where he offered her a job, kissed her on the forehead and handed her £300 in cash, as well as holding her hand and asking whether she had a boyfriend.
Recalling the encounter, she said: “He said ‘No, you don’t have a boyfriend. I’m your boyfriend,'” adding that being kissed by him was “horrible”.
The former Harrods employee said that after describing the encounter to her male line manager, he “brushed it off” and told her: “That’s just what he’s like.”
Bruce Drummond, a barrister in the legal team representing 37 alleged victims, told BBC Radio 4 it was a “huge conflict of interest” that Harrods was inviting former or current employees to settle claims.
Mr Drummond said: “It does seem to me a huge conflict of interest that Harrods are saying: ‘Yes, we did wrong. We were responsible for serious harm to you, but come to us and we’ll sort out the settlement for you.'”
He added: “This is the worst case of corporate sexual exploitation of young women that I have ever seen, and I think probably the world has ever seen.”
In its statement on the BBC Documentary, Al-Fayed: Predator At Harrods, which aired on Thursday, Harrods said it was “a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010”.
The store added that “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, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved”.