The boss of luxury department store Harrods has apologised for the firm ‘failing’ its employees after sex abuse allegations against late owner Mohamed Al Fayed, a leaked memo reveals.
Managing director Michael Ward has written to staff as a BBC investigation revealed five female ex-employees accused Fayed of raping them – admitting that Harrods ‘failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise’.
A new BBC documentary says the Egyptian-born businessman – who died in London aged 94 in August 2023 – carried out the attacks during his time in charge of the outlet between 1984 and its sale in 2010.
The corporation says more than 20 female former workers at Harrods have come forward to accuse him of sexual abuse and presiding over a ‘culture of fear’ at the department store.
Now Mr Ward has told current staff in his internal message they would receive ‘the support you need during this incredibly difficult time’, as he described Fayed as ‘abusing his power wherever he operated’.
A new BBC documentary alleges the late ex-Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed (pictured in October 2015) carried out sexual assaults including raping five female former employees
Gemma, who worked for Fayed between 2007 and 2009, is among those accusing him
Current Harrods managing director Michael Ward has written to all current staff
Mr Ward told employees working for the London luxury department store they would receive ‘the support you need during this incredibly difficult time’, while saying the company was ‘utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed’
Some of those involved claim they were coerced into undergoing invasive medical exams in which they were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, with the results being sent directly to Al Fayed himself.
Harrowing details of the accusations, including vivid descriptions of the alleged rapes by the women, were shown on a new programme called Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods – along with claims the firm itself not only failed to intervene to help the alleged victims but also covered up their claims.
The store’s current owners have now told of being ‘utterly appalled’ by the accusations and have apologised to the women affected.
It comes as it was revealed:
Bruce Drummond, a barrister representing some of the former employees, said: ‘The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark.
‘Any place of work has a duty to ensure the safety of its employees. Without question, the company failed these ladies.
‘That’s why we step in. Because they just did nothing to actually prevent this. They did the opposite. They enabled it.’
And now in his memo to staff today, Mr Ward wrote: ‘You may be aware of the BBC documentary, and the accompanying podcast, concerning allegations of misconduct by Harrods’ former owner and Chairman, the late Mohamed Al Fayed during his period of ownership of Harrods from 1985 to 2010.
‘We know that the content and detail outlined within the documentary is extremely upsetting to watch, for those in the business at the time of the alleged behaviour, and for those that have joined the business since.
Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women including one, Gemma, who worked as his personal assistant between 2007 and 2009
The BBC documentary says the Egyptian-born businessman – who died in London aged 94 last August – carried out the attacks while Harrods boss between 1984 and its sale in 2010
The corporation says more than 20 female former workers at Harrods have come forward to accuse Al Fayed (pictured) of sexual abuse
‘We wanted to reach out to you directly to let you know how we have responded, and what we have been doing separately to support the victims of Al Fayed, and ensure that you, our colleagues, have the support you need during this incredibly difficult time.
‘As our response to the BBC outlined, we are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated, and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.
‘The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010. This is why, 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.
‘This process is still available for any current or former Harrods colleagues. While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today.’
He urged anyone affected and still working at Harrods to contact its human resources department, while also sharing contact details for help services including confidential helplines and sexual harassment support officers.
Mr Ward added: ‘This is an extremely difficult time for us as a business. My ask is that you continue to look out for your teams and yourselves, and seek the support you require from colleagues and from the business.
‘My final point is that this is an issue of extreme sensitivity to many. I ask that you treat this issue with the compassion and sensitivity that it warrants, both inside the business and in your personal lives.’
The alleged attacks are said to have happened not only in London including at his Mayfair flat in the capital but also in Paris, at the Ritz hotel which he owned, and St Tropez in France as well as Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
One of his alleged victims, Gemma, who worked for Al Fayed as a personal assistant between 2007 and 2009, says his behaviour would turn more frightening during work trips abroad
She says he raped her at Villa Windsor in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne, a former home of post-abdication King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson
Gemma described her former boss Fayed to the new BBC investigation as ‘a serial rapist’
Rachel, not her real name, told the BBC she was raped after staying at one of Mr Al Fayed’s apartments after a late shift at work.
She said: ‘I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen. I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over.
‘I remember feeling his body on me, the weight of him. Just hearing him make these noises. And just going somewhere else in my head.’
Another woman told of being raped at the Mayfair address as a teenager, describing staff at Harrods as being treated as his ‘playthings’.
She said: ‘Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever.
‘We were all so scared. He actively cultivated fear. If he said ‘jump’, employees would ask, “How high?”‘
One of his alleged victims was named as Gemma, who worked for Al Fayed as a personal assistant between 2007 and 2009 – and tells how his behaviour would turn more scary during work trips abroad.
She says he raped her at Villa Windsor in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne, a former home of post-abdication King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson.
Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods and Fulham FC, is pictured here in 2018
Mohamed Al Fayed pictured alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, at a charity event held at Harrods in London in 1996
She described waking up to find him attempting to get into bed with her, adding: ‘I told him, ‘No, I don’t want you to’.
‘And he proceeded to just keep trying to get in the bed, at which point he was kind of on top of me and [I] really couldn’t move anywhere.
‘I was kind of face down on the bed and he just pressed himself on me.’
She added: ‘I think Mohamed Al Fayed is a rapist – he is a serial rapist.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Gemma said she ‘didn’t feel safe’ around Al Fayed after the attack and said she ‘would have been too frightened’ to get justice while the tycoon was alive.
She claimed Mr Al Fayed started sexually harassing her ‘immediately’ after she started her role at his charitable foundation, by making sexual remarks and groping her.
She told the Today programme that Mr Al Fayed tried to come into her room on multiple work trips and spoke of locking herself in rooms and bathrooms and ignoring him when he would come to her door.
This was then followed by the alleged rape during a work trip to Paris.
Gemma said he directed her to clean herself afterwards, adding: ‘Looking back now I’m older, more mature, I realise that that was probably to cover up anything, any kind of evidence, anything that would have left his trace on me.’
She said she felt ‘terrified’ afterwards.
‘In Paris, there were security guards patrolling the house, there were security guards outside the house, we were locked in a gated property, we’d been escorted there that day by the police, so I felt like I couldn’t even go to the police, even if I could make my way out of the property,’ she told Radio 4.
‘I couldn’t even contemplate leaving the country because he had my passport, so my only way to leave was with him back on that private jet back to London.’
She said getting back to London was ‘even more terrifying’ because she felt she had no one to turn to, explaining that she and her colleagues were under ‘surveillance’ and that there was a ‘strong culture of don’t talk about anything relating to him’.
Gemma said going to the police back in London ‘just wasn’t an option’, adding: ‘He felt like such a powerful man with so much money and so many professional people around him that were facilitating everything he did.
‘It just felt like little old me from a small town outside of London is never going to stand a chance against him, and even if I went to the police, what would they do? It’s my word against his at that point.’
The programme heard she got herself signed off from work with stress within weeks of returning from Paris.
Gemma said that while she was on sick leave, Mr Al Fayed would ring her and threatened to send his security team to take her back to London.
She eventually sought help from a lawyer to help her leave the company properly, she said.
Some of Fayed’s assaults are said to have been carried out at his Park Lane property in London
One of the women now speaking out, who says Fayed raped her at his London apartment told BBC investigators: ‘I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen. ‘I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over’
Mohamed Al Fayed pictured with his wife Heini Wathen in 2016. The couple had four children
Gemma told of having to destroy recordings she had made of Mr Al Fayed sexually harassing her.
‘The HR department during my leaving process had said that in order to leave quietly and quickly, they needed me to destroy all of my evidence,’ she told the Today programme.
‘They gave me a settlement, they made me shred my evidence and I had to sign an NDA to say I would never speak about it.’
She added: ‘It’s mad that even today I’m petrified of someone that’s no longer alive. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s how it is, and that’s he made us feel.’
In the documentary some women claim they were coerced into undergoing invasive medical exams, in which they were tested for sexually transmitted diseases with the results sent to Al Fayed himself.
One woman told filmmakers: ‘There is no benefit to anybody knowing how my sexual health is, unless you’re planning to sleep with somebody, which I find quite chilling now.’
Fayed was accused of sexual assault when alive, but the BBC now says it believes many more women could have been victims of him.
Eamon Coyle, who joined Harrods as a store detective in 1979 and was its deputy director of security between 1989 and 1995, told the BBC: ‘We were aware that he had this very strong interest in young girls.’
The BBC said it heard testimony from 13 women who say they were sexually assaulted at Fayed’s 60 Park Lane property in London, four of whom allege they were raped there.
Harrods began settling claims with women who came forward alleging to have been sexually abused at his hands in July last year.
Harrods said in a statement to the BBC: ‘The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010.
‘I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen. I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over,’ she said,
‘I remember feeling his body on me, the weight of him. Just hearing him make these noises. And just going somewhere else in my head.’
‘It is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.
‘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.
Mr Al Fayed (right) with Prince Charles (with his back to camera) and Diana during a Harrods-sponsored polo match in 1987
Mohamed Al Fayed with the Queen in 1997. His business connections and charity work saw him mixing with high society despite his complaints about what he saw as establishment bias
‘This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees.
‘While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.’
The Ritz hotel in Paris, formerly owned by Fayed, told the the BBC that it ‘strongly condemns all forms of behaviour that do not align with the values of the establishment’.
Fayed was born in Alexandria in 1929 and moved to the UK in the 1960s, becoming an early driving force in the development of Dubai.
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.
He had begun his career selling fizzy drinks and then worked as a sewing-machine salesman.
He built his family’s fortune in real estate, shipping and construction, first in the Middle East and then in Europe – aided by connections with his first wife Samira Khashoggi’s arms dealer brother Adnan Khashoggi.
A combination of building a business empire in the UK and establishing a charitable foundation saw him mixing with the UK’s most illustrious figures – from stars to royalty.
Fayed is believed to have met Diana, Princess of Wales, and the then-Prince Charles at a polo match in the 1980s – and through this connection introduced her to his son Dodi.
The moment of their meeting was immortalised in a later season of the hit Netflix drama, The Crown, in which the Egyptian businessman was played by Israeli actor Salim Daw.
One episode charted his rise to fame and his eventual meeting with Diana, although his alleged victims have slammed the sympathetic portrayal of him on the show.
One tearful woman told documentary makers: ‘It just makes him look so funny and gregarious, and he could turn that on, but it wasn’t right. And that makes me angry, people shouldn’t remember him like that, that’s not how he was.’
In later years he became consumed with pursuing investigations into the crash which killed Dodi and Diana on August 31 1997 – almost exactly 26 years before his own death.
Diana – who was divorced from Charles in 1992 – and Dodi were pictured together in St Tropez in 1997, sparking rumours of romance.
Among those giving testimony to the BBC is Gemma who says Fayed raped her at Villa Windsor in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne (pictured), former home of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
Mohammed Al Fayed (right) with son Dodi at a party for the film Hook in 1992
The pair then travelled together as they sought to leave the Ritz Hotel in Paris on the fateful morning of August 31 that year.
The younger Al-Fayed and the Princess of Wales were being driven away from paparazzi by Henri Paul, the deputy head of security at the hotel, when Paul lost control of the car and struck a pillar at a speed of about 65mph.
Dodi’s father 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 the erratic driving of paparazzi pursuing them.
At the same inquest Al Fayed claimed that Charles would be ‘happy’ now that the Royal Family had ‘cleared the decks, they finished her, they murdered her’.
Such was his obsession over the deaths and his insistence on making the outlandish claims, Harrods was stripped of its four royal warrants – the right to declare that a company supplies goods by appointment to the Royal Family.
Even before his death in 2023, which happened almost 26 years to day that his son and Diana were killed, Al Fayed had faced sexual assault allegations.
In 2015 he was the centre of a police investigation into a rape allegation against him, but this did not lead to any charges.
And three years later Channel 4 reported that multiple women had accused him of sexual abuse, including one who alleged she was just 15 when he targeted her.
The woman claimed she was just a schoolgirl when Al Fayed spotted her and offered her a job, before showering her with gifts such as perfume, designer handbags and wads of cash.
She alleged he then tried to kiss her, with no charges being brought after the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was conflicting evidence and no realistic prospect of conviction.
Two other women also described how Al Fayed would shower them with gifts, before becoming overtly sexual in his behaviour and sacking one after she refused to sleep with him.While alive Al Fayed consistently denied the claims against him, but since his passing more women have come forward to detail their sickening interactions with him.
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