Editing Mohamed Al-Fayed (section)

=== Death of Dodi Fayed ===
{{Further|Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|Conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales}}

==== Background and relationship with Princess Diana ====
[[Lady Diana Spencer]] married [[Charles III|Charles]], Prince of Wales, then [[heir apparent]] to the [[British throne]] in 1981, becoming [[Princess of Wales]]. She was an international celebrity and a frequent visitor to Harrods in the 1980s. Al-Fayed and Dodi first met Diana and Charles in July 1986 when they were introduced at a [[polo]] tournament sponsored by Harrods.<ref name = HighBeam1>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/08/31/dianas-life-on-display-sometimes-storybook-sometimes-soap-opera/4398f8d1-48d0-42e5-b815-05be80c240f7/ |title=Diana's Life on Display: Sometimes Storybook, Sometimes Soap Opera |first=David |last=van Drehle |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=31 August 1997 |access-date=11 October 2013}}</ref>

Diana and Charles divorced in 1996. She was hosted by Al-Fayed in the [[south of France]] in mid-1997, with her sons, Princes [[William, Prince of Wales|William]] and [[Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex|Harry]].<ref name = HighBeam2>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-13112834.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924184420/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-13112834.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2015 |title=Coroner at Diana inquest dismisses all the conspiracy theories over fatal car crash Mohamed al-Fayed expresses surprise over the tone and content of remarks he says should be left to the jury to consider |first=Stephen |last=McGinty |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=3 October 2007 |access-date=11 October 2013}}</ref> For the holiday, Fayed bought a 195&nbsp;ft yacht, the ''[[Sokar (yacht)|Jonikal]]'' (later renamed the ''Sokar'').<ref name="Vanity Fair 2008-05">{{cite magazine |date=19 May 2010 |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/05/dunne200805 |title=Two Ladies, Two Yachts, and a Billionaire |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |location=New York |first=Dominick |last=Dunne |access-date=11 October 2013 |author-link=Dominick Dunne |archive-date=13 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013012757/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/05/dunne200805 |url-status=live }}</ref> Dodi and Diana later began a private cruise on the ''Jonikal'' and paparazzi photographs of the couple in an embrace were published. Diana's friend, the journalist Richard Kay, confirmed that Diana was involved in "her first serious romance" since her divorce.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4409051.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924194339/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4409051.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2015 |title=Di and Dodi's short summer |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=7 September 1997|access-date=11 October 2013}}</ref>

Dodi and Diana went on a second private cruise on the ''Jonikal'' in the third week of August, and returned from [[Sardinia]] to Paris on 30 August. Later that day, the couple privately dined at the Ritz, after the behaviour of the press caused them to cancel a restaurant reservation. They planned to spend the night at Dodi's apartment near the [[Arc de Triomphe]].<ref name="bbc-final">{{Cite news |date=14 December 2006 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6219252.stm |title=Diana and Dodi: Their final hours |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403043705/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6219252.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In an attempt to deceive the [[paparazzi]], a decoy car left the front of the hotel, while Diana and Dodi departed from the rear of the hotel in a Mercedes-Benz S280 driven by concierge Henri Paul.<ref name="bbc-final"/> Five minutes later, the car crashed in the [[Pont de l'Alma]] tunnel. Dodi and Paul were killed; Diana died later in hospital. British bodyguard [[Trevor Rees-Jones (bodyguard)|Trevor Rees-Jones]], who sustained a serious head injury, was the sole survivor of the crash. Fayed arrived in Paris a day later and viewed Dodi's body, which was returned to the United Kingdom for an [[Islamic funeral]].<ref name="bbc-final"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-64636402.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131013221726/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-64636402.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2013|title=Fayed Is Buried After Quiet Islamic Tribute |newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |date=1 September 1997 |access-date=11 October 2013}}</ref>

==== Conspiracy theories ====
From February 1998, Al-Fayed maintained that the crash was a result of a conspiracy,<ref name="diana-crash">{{Cite news |date=12 February 1998 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/55800.stm |title=Diana crash was a conspiracy – Al Fayed |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=7 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107032400/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/55800.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> and later contended that the crash was orchestrated by [[MI6]] on the instructions of [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]].<ref name="point-claims">{{Cite news |date=19 February 1998 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/55800.stm |title=Point-by-point: Al Fayed's claims |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=7 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107032400/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/55800.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> His claims were dismissed by a French judicial investigation, but Fayed appealed the verdict.<ref>{{cite news |title=France closes Diana investigation |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/04/diana.investigation/index.html |access-date=3 September 2023 |work=CNN World |date=4 April 2002 |archive-date=3 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903151555/https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/04/diana.investigation/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Fayed risks huge lawsuit with appeal against Diana verdict |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/sep/05/monarchy.theobserver |access-date=3 September 2023 |work=The Observer |date=5 September 1999 |archive-date=3 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903151555/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/sep/05/monarchy.theobserver |url-status=live }}</ref>

The British [[Operation Paget]], a [[Metropolitan police]] inquiry that concluded in 2006, also found no evidence of a conspiracy.<ref>{{Cite news|date=14 December 2006|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6179275.stm|title=Diana death a 'tragic accident'|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=13 November 2022|archive-date=13 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113134134/https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6179275.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> To Operation Paget, Al-Fayed made 175 "conspiracy claims".<ref>{{cite news |first=Martyn |last=Gregory |date=7 October 2007 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/martyn-gregory-alfayed-cant-rewrite-the-death-of-diana-394391.html |url-access=registration |title=Al-Fayed can't rewrite the death of Diana |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=5 September 2017 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920234101/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/martyn-gregory-alfayed-cant-rewrite-the-death-of-diana-394391.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

An inquest headed by [[Lord Justice Scott Baker]] into the deaths of Diana and Dodi began at the [[Royal Courts of Justice]], London, on 2 October 2007 and lasted for six months. It was a continuation of the original inquest that had begun in 2004.<ref name="inquests">{{cite web |url=http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk/faq/index.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080521144222/http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk/faq/index.htm|url-status=dead |archive-date=21 May 2008 |title=Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed: FAQs |access-date=4 June 2010 |year=2008 |work=Coroner's Inquests into the Deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed |publisher=Judicial Communications Office}}</ref>

At the Scott Baker inquest, Fayed accused the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, [[Lady Sarah McCorquodale]], her sister, and numerous others, of plotting to kill the Princess of Wales.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Bates |date=19 February 2008 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/19/diana.monarchy |title=They're all guilty? 'Definitely.' Fayed gets his day in court |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=27 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127153619/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/19/diana.monarchy |url-status=live }}</ref> Their motive, he claimed, was that they could not tolerate the idea of the Princess marrying a [[Muslim]].<ref name="The Guardian 2008-04-07">{{cite news |first=Angela |last=Balakrishnan |date=7 April 2008 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/07/diana.monarchy1 |title=Pregnancy rumours, MI6 plots and Henri Paul |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=26 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226014432/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/07/diana.monarchy1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Al-Fayed first claimed that the Princess was pregnant to the ''[[Daily Express]]'' in May 2001,<ref name="The Guardian 2008-04-07" /> and that he was the only person who had been told. Witnesses at the inquest who said the Princess was not pregnant, and could not have been, were part of the conspiracy according to Al-Fayed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7250002.stm |title=Diana murdered, Al Fayed claims |work=[[BBC News]] |date=18 February 2008 |access-date=13 October 2013 |archive-date=27 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227175316/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7250002.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Fayed's testimony at the inquest was roundly condemned in the press as farcical. Members of the British Government's [[Intelligence and Security Committee]] accused Fayed of turning the inquest into a 'circus' and called for it to be ended prematurely.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7256665.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Coroner warning in Diana inquest |date=21 February 2008 |access-date=13 May 2010 |archive-date=13 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113134150/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7256665.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Lawyers representing Al-Fayed later accepted at the inquest that there was no direct evidence that either the Duke of Edinburgh or MI6 were involved in any murder conspiracy involving Diana or Dodi.<ref name="fayed-collapses">{{Cite news |date=7 April 2008 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7326311.stm |title=Fayed conspiracy claim collapses |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224070925/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7326311.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> A few days before Al-Fayed's appearance, John MacNamara, a former senior detective at [[Scotland Yard]] and Al-Fayed's investigator for five years from 1997, was forced to admit on 14 February 2008 that he had no evidence to suggest foul play, except for the assertions Al-Fayed had made to him.<ref name="The Guardian 2008-02-15">{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Bates |date=15 February 2008 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/15/monarchy |title=Diana conspiracy theory unravels as Fayed's investigator tells of lies and lack of evidence |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=15 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015231543/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/15/monarchy |url-status=live }}</ref> His admissions also related to the lack of evidence for Al-Fayed's claims of the Princess's pregnancy and the couple's engagement.<ref name="The Guardian 2008-02-15"/>

The jury verdict, given on 7 April 2008, was that Diana and Dodi were "[[unlawfully killed]]" through the [[grossly negligent]] driving of Henri Paul,<ref name="verdict">{{cite web| url=http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk/hearing_transcripts/verdict.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080521144222/http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk/hearing_transcripts/verdict.htm|url-status=dead |archive-date=21 May 2008 |title=Hearing transcripts: 7&nbsp;April 2008 – Verdict of the jury |publisher=Judicial Communications Office |access-date=15 August 2010}}</ref> who was [[drunk]], and the pursuing vehicles.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Diana jury blames paparazzi and Henri Paul for her 'unlawful killing' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584160/Diana-jury-blames-paparazzi-and-Henri-Paul-for-her-unlawful-killing.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584160/Diana-jury-blames-paparazzi-and-Henri-Paul-for-her-unlawful-killing.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=12 October 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=7 April 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Al-Fayed's lawyers accepted that there was no evidence to support the assertion that Diana was illegally embalmed to conceal pregnancy, or that a pregnancy could be confirmed by any medical evidence.<ref name="fayed-collapses"/> They also accepted that there was no evidence to support the assertion that the French emergency and medical services had played any role in a conspiracy to harm Diana.<ref name="fayed-collapses"/> Following the Baker inquest, Al-Fayed said that he was abandoning his conspiracy campaign, and would accept the jury's verdict.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2008 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7337789.stm |title=Al Fayed abandons Diana campaign |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115071543/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7337789.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Journalist [[Dominic Lawson]] wrote in ''[[The Independent]]'' in 2008 that Al-Fayed sought to concoct "a conspiracy to cover up the true circumstances" of fatalities caused by the crash "involving an intoxicated and over-excited driver (an employee of Mohamed Fayed's Paris Ritz)". He "had remarkable success in persuading elements of the tabloid press, notably the ''Daily Express'', to give the conspiracy a fair wind."<ref>{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Dominic |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-the-only-conspiracy-over-diana-s-death-was-fayed-s-bid-to-manipulate-the-british-public-804548.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-the-only-conspiracy-over-diana-s-death-was-fayed-s-bid-to-manipulate-the-british-public-804548.html |archive-date=15 May 2022 |url-access=registration |url-status=live |title=The only conspiracy over Diana's death was Fayed's bid to manipulate the British public |work=The Independent |date=4 April 2008|access-date=19 December 2021}}</ref>

Al-Fayed financially supported ''[[Unlawful Killing (film)|Unlawful Killing]]'' (2011), a documentary film presenting his version of events.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/cannes-film-festival/8513112/Unlawful-Killing-film-about-the-death-of-Diana-likens-Prince-Philip-to-Fred-West.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/cannes-film-festival/8513112/Unlawful-Killing-film-about-the-death-of-Diana-likens-Prince-Philip-to-Fred-West.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Unlawful Killing: film about the death of Diana likens Prince Philip to Fred West |access-date=11 May 2011 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |first=Anita |last=Singh |date=13 May 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It was not formally released because of the potential for libel suits.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ben |last=Child |date=5 July 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jul/05/princess-diana-documentary-unlawful-killing |title=Princess Diana documentary Unlawful Killing is shelved |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428102216/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jul/05/princess-diana-documentary-unlawful-killing |url-status=live }}</ref>