Al Fayed, the man who invested a fortune to investigate the “murder” of Lady Di and her son Dodi

Mohammed al Fayed is a powerful Egyptian billionaire who has always stood out for his businesses, including Ritz hotels and Harrods stores. But he gained greater public notoriety when his son Dodi became a partner of Diana, The Princess of Wale.

Dodi, whom his father adored, he was the heir of the emporium. His mother was the writer and editor-in-chief Samira Khashoggi, sister of the famous arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

Al Fayed, a Sunni born in Alexandria, had separated from Samira and in the mid-1980s he married Finnish model Heini Wathén, with whom he had four children.

The tycoon had a deep love for his son Dodi, his favorite. His tragic death with Lady Di on the Paris Bridge deeply moved Al Fayed and aroused in him a vengeful hatred against the British monarchy and the intelligence services, who he blamed for having triggered the car accident.

Hurt, angry, he came up with a series of theories about what happened on August 31, 1997 in which he basically argued that Lady Di was pregnant with Dodi and they were planning to get married, something the British monarchy was unwilling to accept.

The first public complaint

In July 1998, the Egyptian tycoon sent a letter to Members of the British Parliament where he raised a secret crime. “It was no accident. Deep in my heart, I am convinced of it. The truth cannot stay hidden forever, ”he said.

When Lady Di’s death trial began in 2007, Al Fayed was outspoken. “I am a father who lost his son. I fought for ten years, in the end I want justice. I am sure what happened. I know they were killed“.

Welsh writer Gordon thomas He tells the peculiar story of Al Fayed’s investigation in his book on the Israeli “Mossad,” and gives juicy details of the whole process that has obsessed the businessman, causing him to spend huge amounts of money. sums of money.

Al Fayed’s claim, Thomas said, was that there had been a plot to eliminate Diana and Dodi. “He maintained that MI5 and MI6 had acted, in collaboration with French intelligence”.

The motive behind it all, for the billionaire, was the British Crown Racism. They didn’t want, he claimed, for Diana to marry a Muslim and the future King of England (Diana’s son) had an Arab as a stepfather and another as a grandfather.

“The establishment would have done everything to end my son’s relationship with the only woman he has ever loved,” according to a text Al Fayed told Thomas.

He first hired a former Scotland Yard detective named John MacNamara. As that didn’t work, he started climbing and looked for an intelligence expert, the Israeli Ari ben Menashe, who had worked with Prime Minister Yitzahak Shamir.

Menashe was an expert who owned a security company where he provided protection services to large companies and industries.

He knew the world of intelligence, the inner workings of arms trafficking and the movements of European politicians. Al Fayed signed a contract with him for $ 700,000.

The accident and the mysterious driver

The Mercedes that crashed into one of the reinforced concrete pillars of the tunnel under the Place de L’Alme in Paris was carrying Diana, her boyfriend Dodi and was led by Henri Paul, the head of security at the Ritz. All three are dead.

Paul had been a member of the French Air Force and since 1976 was a loyal employee of the Fayed family at the hotel. He enjoys hanging out with celebrities and had connections with paparazzi who searched for celebrity photos.

He loved cars, motorcycles and alcohol. In fact, tests determined he had been drinking before the accident. The vehicle crashed at 105 km / h, trying to escape the photographers who constantly disturbed Lady Di.

It seems Paul worked for the French intelligence services. And the Mossad also wanted to capture it by its proximity to the personalities who stayed at the Ritz.

The secret NSA report

Al Fayed took all this into account and especially something that had reached his ears: a secret US service report about Lady Di and Dodi’s phone follow-up.

Data received by Al Fayed indicated that the national security agency (NSA) of the United States had developed a thousand-page report on the couple, thanks to ECHELON surveillance, the controversial security system that intercepted and decoded communications instantly.

They had recorded the last conversation between Diana and Dodi. This dialogue had taken place on the yacht Jonikal, two days before the death, while they were sailing through Sardinia.

There at once they talked about getting married, which had put the British services on alert. It also showed Diana very affected by the paparazzi following. This is why he wanted to return to Paris.

Al Fayed was keen to obtain this report and brandished it as an argument that supported his theory of the alleged crime. He urged Ari ben Menashe to obtain a copy.

As Menashe was unable to move forward with the conspiracy theory, he decided to change men and Richard Tominson, former MI6 officer, the British Foreign Intelligence Service, which had been fired for emotional issues.

Tominson, who had fallen out of favor in the realm of spies, “encouraged the version that it was an MI6 plot and that Paul was an agent of that agency, ”says Thomas.

One of the theories that have been discussed in this area is that in the case of Diana and Dodi, the spies used a plan they had planned to assassinate another character, according to Thomas, and which made it possible to disguise him. in an accident.

It consisted of using a laser to distract the driver at a key moment and in front of a circuit that favored the crash. In fact, on the bridge where they both died, there were several similar events.

The collapse of the conspiracy theory

Despite the money spent and the spies hired, heAl Fayed’s investigation did not bear fruit. It has been permanently locked down and none have found concrete evidence to confirm the Egyptian tycoon’s assumptions.

There have been two parallel official inquiries into Diana’s accident, and largely driven by Al Fayed’s guesswork.

The British Royal House was unwilling to let the billionaire’s accusations pass and commissioned a full two-year Scotland Yard investigation. The second was carried out by French justice, since the event occurred on its territory.

Both reports agreed that it was a fortuitous accident and that “there was no plot to assassinate any of the occupants of the vehicle“.

The accident, they say, was caused by the formerstopping speed and drunk driving, Henri Paul.

“The driver of the car was intoxicated and under the influence of drugs incompatible with alcohol. I was not able to keep control of the vehicle ”, concluded the French judge Hervé Stephan.

Over time Al Fayed resigned himself and put aside his theories. Now is 91 years old and lives in Geneva, with his family.