Mohamed Al-Fayed is laid to rest next to his son Dodi after funeral in central London – as tributes pour in

BILLIONAIRE former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed has been laid to rest next to his son Dodi after a funeral in central London.

Tributes have been flooding in for the Egyptian businessman who died on Wednesday aged 94.

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His death came almost 26 years to the day of the Paris car crash that killed his eldest son and Princess Diana on August 31, 1997.

Prayers were held at Regent’s Park Mosque on Friday, before Al Fayed’s coffin was driven to Barrow Green Court in Oxted, Surrey.

He has been laid to rest next to his son Dodi at the family mausoleum on the 226-acre estate.

Dodi was originally interred in Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, Surrey, but was re-interred on the estate grounds in October 1997.

Photos show a hearse carrying Mohamed’s coffin through central London.

As well as being a hugely successful business owner, Mohamed also served as chairman of Premier League club Fulham.

Today the club paid a touching tribute to Al-Fayed by tying a scarf to the gates of their stadium – as he was famous for twirling his scarf around as he walked about the pitch.

In a statement released by the club yesterday, his family said: “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.

“He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones.

“The family have asked for their privacy to be respected at this time.”

Shahid Khan, who took over as owner of Fulham in 2013 after a spell which had seen the club rise to the Premier League and reach the Europa League final, paid his condolences in a statement on the club’s website.

He said: “The story of Fulham cannot be told without a chapter on the positive impact of Mr Al Fayed as chairman.

“I always enjoyed my time with Mr Al Fayed, who was wise, colourful and committed to Fulham, and I am forever grateful for his trust in me to succeed him as chairman.

“I join our supporters around the world in celebrating the memory of Mohamed Al Fayed, whose legacy will always be at the heart of our tradition at Fulham Football Club.”

Lord Alan Sugar paid tribute, writing: “A real character. I also liked him, we met a few times.

“He turned up at my wife’s 50th birthday held at the Ritz in Paris. My father in law didn’t know who he was, I introduced him as the bloke who has the big corner shop in Knightsbridge. R.I.P.”

Mr Al Fayed, who was portrayed by Salim Daw in the fifth series of The Crown, repeatedly claimed his son and the late princess were murdered in a plot by the British establishment.

Born in Alexandria in Egypt, he came to London in the 1960s taking control of Harrods in 1985 – which he sold to Qatar‘s royal family for a reported £1.5 billion in 2010. He had purchased the Ritz hotel in Paris in 1979.

Mr Al Fayed made his first application for British citizenship in 1993 and in 1999, weeks after it was granted to his brother Ali, but was declared unfit to hold a British passport by then-home secretary Jack Straw.

The businessman appealed against the decision but Lords Justice Nourse, Kennedy and Rix dismissed his claim that Mr Straw had been biased when he refused the application.

He had previously been rejected in 1993 by former home office minister Charles Wardle who joined the Harrods board of directors in 2000, a move which came as a surprise to some.

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen poked fun at the dispute on his satirical comedy series, Da Ali G Show, when he was joined by Mr Al Fayed in 2000.

Cohen, as the Ali G character, said that the businessman not being able to rap was “an obstacle” to him getting a British passport and so they rapped a song together that referenced the Harrods owner.

The 2021 Sunday Times Rich List reported that Mohamed Al-Fayed and family were worth around £1.7 billion.

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