Most sources state that Fayed was born on 15 April 1955.[1][2][3][4][5] This is also the date that appears on his gravestone.[6] However, since 2022, some sources have stated that he was born on 17 April.[7][8][9][10]
In 1986, Fayed married model Suzanne Gregard. They divorced eight months later.[2]
According to her memoir, Babylon Confidential, Claudia Christian had an on-again, off-again romance with Fayed.[17]
In 1997, Fayed reportedly became engaged to American model Kelly Fisher and bought a house in Malibu, California, for himself and Fisher, with money from his father.[18] In July 1997, Fayed became romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales, after entertaining her on his yacht Cujo.[19][20] Fisher learned of Fayed's relationship with Diana only after seeing paparazzi photos of the two embracing. Fisher then announced that she was filing a breach of contract suit against him, saying he had "led her emotionally all the way up to the altar and abandoned her when they were almost there," and that he "threw her love away in a callous way with no regard for her whatsoever".[21] Fayed denied that he was ever engaged to Fisher.[22] Fisher dropped the lawsuit shortly after Fayed's death.[23]
In the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana and Fayed died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma underpass in Paris. They had stopped in Paris en route to London after spending nine days on holiday in the French and Italian Rivieras aboard his family's yacht, the Jonikal. Neither Fayed nor Diana was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.[24] The only survivor of the crash was bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, who was seriously injured but was conscious after the crash; he was the only one wearing a seatbelt according to some reports. Fayed was pronounced dead at the scene on removal from the wreckage.
Investigations by French and British police concluded that their chauffeur, Henri Paul, was driving under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs; paparazzi chasing the couple are also believed to have contributed to the accident.[25][26] Fayed's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, said that the couple "were executed by MI6 agents".[27] Fayed's former spokesman, Michael Cole, has said that the couple became engaged before their deaths.[28]
Fayed's father erected two memorials to his son and Diana at Harrods. The first, unveiled on 12 April 1998, consists of photos of them behind a pyramid-shaped display containing a wine glass still smudged with lipstick from Diana's final dinner, and a ring Fayed purchased the day before they died.[31] The second, unveiled in 2005 and titled Innocent Victims, is a 3-metre (9.8-foot) high bronze statue of the two dancing on a beach, beneath the wings of an albatross.[32]
The memorials were designed by Bill Mitchell, a close friend of Fayed's father who had worked for the Fayed family for more than 40 years, including as a designer at Harrods.[33] In January 2018, it was announced that the statue would be returned to the Al-Fayed family.[34]
^ abPeretti, Jacques (11 January 2009). "Death of a playboy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
^ abBradford, Sarah (2007), Diana, Penguin, ISBN978-0-14-190673-7, Fayed had risen from his lowly beginnings through his connection with the Kashoggi family, Saudis of Turkish descent, who owed their position to their connection with the rulers of Saudi Arabia. In 1954 he married Samira, the 16-year-old sister of Adnan Kashoggi, his contemporary, son of the head of the family Dr Mohamed Kashoggi. Their son, Emad, always known as 'Dodi', had been born in 1955...
