Dodi Al-Fayed
Encyclopedia
Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed , known as Dodi Fayed (15 April 1955 – 31 August 1997), was an Egyptian film producer
. He was best known internationally as the boyfriend of Diana, Princess of Wales
, with whom he died in a car crash
in the Pont de l'Alma
tunnel in Paris
along with driver Henri Paul
on 31 August 1997.
, Egypt
, Fayed was the son of billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed
, former owner of Harrods
department store and owner of Fulham Football Club and the Hôtel Ritz Paris
. His mother was Samira Kashoggi, sister of Turkish Saudi
-born arms dealer billionaire Adnan Khashoggi
. Fayed was a student at Collège Saint Marc before attending the Institut Le Rosey
in Switzerland. He also briefly attended Sandhurst
. Fayed was the executive producer of the films Chariots of Fire
, Breaking Glass
, F/X
, F/X2
, Hook
, and The Scarlet Letter
. He also served as the Executive Creative Consultant for the F/X television series
. Fayed also worked for his father on Harrods' marketing. Fayed was of Egyptian
descent from his father and Spanish
, Turkish
and Arab
descent from his mother.
. He had been engaged to American model Kelly Fisher, but broke off the engagement when he began his highly publicised relationship with Diana. In the early hours of 31 August of that year, Diana and Dodi died in a car crash
in the Pont de l'Alma
underpass in Paris. They had stopped in Paris en route to London, after having spent nine days together on holiday in the French
and Italian Riviera
aboard his family yacht, the Jonikal. Neither Dodi nor Diana were wearing a seatbelt. Some reports have suggested that Henri Paul
, the driver of their Mercedes-Benz
limousine, may have been under the influence of alcohol and paparazzi chasing the couple may have caused the car accident. Dodi's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed
claimed that the couple were executed by MI6 agents. Fayed's former spokesman Michael Cole
has claimed that the couple had become engaged before their deaths. Their relationship and death are documented in the television film Diana: Last Days of a Princess
. Dodi was originally interred in Brookwood Cemetery
near Woking, Surrey, but was moved to the Fayed estate in Oxted
, Surrey
.
Dodi's father has erected two memorials to Dodi and Diana at Harrods
. The first, unveiled on 12 April 1998, consists of photos of the two behind a pyramid-shaped display that holds a wine glass still smudged with lipstick from Diana's last dinner as well as a ring Dodi purchased the day before they died. The second, unveiled in 2005 and titled "Innocent Victims", is a 3m high bronze statue of the two dancing on a beach beneath the wings of an albatross. The memorials were designed by 80-year-old Bill Mitchell, a close friend of Fayed and architect for Harrods for more than 40 years.
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. He was best known internationally as the boyfriend of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
, with whom he died in a car crash
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fayed's...
in the Pont de l'Alma
Pont de l'Alma
Pont de l'Alma is an arch bridge in Paris, crossing the Seine. It was named to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War, in which the Franco-British alliance achieved victory over the Russian army on September 20, 1854....
tunnel in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
along with driver Henri Paul
Henri Paul
Henri Paul was the Deputy Head of Security at the Hôtel Ritz Paris. He was the driver at the time of the car accident at the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris that killed him along with Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed on 31 August 1997. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of...
on 31 August 1997.
Life
Born in AlexandriaAlexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Fayed was the son of billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...
, former owner of Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
department store and owner of Fulham Football Club and the Hôtel Ritz Paris
Hôtel Ritz Paris
The Hôtel Ritz is a grand palatial hotel in the heart of Paris, the 1st arrondissement. It overlooks the octagonal border of the Place Vendôme at number 15...
. His mother was Samira Kashoggi, sister of Turkish Saudi
Turks in Saudi Arabia
Turks in Saudi Arabia are either Turkish people who live in Saudi Arabia even though having been born outside Saudi Arabia, or are Saudi Arabian-born, but have Turkish roots...
-born arms dealer billionaire Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi is a Saudi Arabian arms-dealer and businessman. He is also noted for his engagements with high society in both the Occident and Arabic-speaking worlds, and for his involvement in the Iran–Contra and Lockheed bribery scandals, and numerous other affairs...
. Fayed was a student at Collège Saint Marc before attending the Institut Le Rosey
Institut Le Rosey
Institut Le Rosey, commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a school, in Gstaad, Switzerland. It is described as one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the world. The school was founded by Paul-Émile Carnal in 1880 on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey near the town...
in Switzerland. He also briefly attended Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
. Fayed was the executive producer of the films Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
, Breaking Glass
Breaking Glass
Breaking Glass is a 1980 British film starring Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels and Jonathan Pryce. The film was co-produced by Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson. The film was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival....
, F/X
F/X
F/X is a 1986 American action-thriller film about Rollie Tyler , an expert in the art of special effects with a reputation built by his work on many low-budget hack-and-slash films such as I Dismember Mama...
, F/X2
F/X2
F/X2 is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy. It is a sequel to the 1986 film F/X.-Plot:...
, Hook
Hook (film)
Hook is a 1991 American fantasy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and features Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, and Dante Basco. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing...
, and The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter (1995 film)
The Scarlet Letter is a 1995 American film adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel of the same name. It was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall. This version was "freely adapted" from Hawthorne and deviated from the original story. Universally panned by...
. He also served as the Executive Creative Consultant for the F/X television series
F/X: The Series
F/X: The Series was a television series based on the film F/X, starring Cameron Daddo, Christina Cox, Kevin Dobson , Jacqueline Torres , Carrie-Anne Moss and Jason Blicker. It ran for 40 episodes from 1996 through 1998....
. Fayed also worked for his father on Harrods' marketing. Fayed was of Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
descent from his father and Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
descent from his mother.
Diana, Princess of Wales
In July 1997, Dodi became romantically involved with Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. He had been engaged to American model Kelly Fisher, but broke off the engagement when he began his highly publicised relationship with Diana. In the early hours of 31 August of that year, Diana and Dodi died in a car crash
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fayed's...
in the Pont de l'Alma
Pont de l'Alma
Pont de l'Alma is an arch bridge in Paris, crossing the Seine. It was named to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War, in which the Franco-British alliance achieved victory over the Russian army on September 20, 1854....
underpass in Paris. They had stopped in Paris en route to London, after having spent nine days together on holiday in the French
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
and Italian Riviera
Italian Riviera
The Italian Riviera, or Ligurian Riviera is the narrow coastal strip which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines...
aboard his family yacht, the Jonikal. Neither Dodi nor Diana were wearing a seatbelt. Some reports have suggested that Henri Paul
Henri Paul
Henri Paul was the Deputy Head of Security at the Hôtel Ritz Paris. He was the driver at the time of the car accident at the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris that killed him along with Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed on 31 August 1997. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of...
, the driver of their Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
limousine, may have been under the influence of alcohol and paparazzi chasing the couple may have caused the car accident. Dodi's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...
claimed that the couple were executed by MI6 agents. Fayed's former spokesman Michael Cole
Michael Cole (public relations)
Michael Cole is an English public relations expert, journalist and media personality.-Journalism:Cole qualified as a journalist and spent 27 years as a reporter, most notably on Anglia Television and as a correspondent for the BBC, with whom he won two Royal Television Society 'Best Home News...
has claimed that the couple had become engaged before their deaths. Their relationship and death are documented in the television film Diana: Last Days of a Princess
Diana: Last Days of a Princess
Diana: Last Days of a Princess is a television movie broadcast in the United States by TLC on August 12, 2007 and subsequent dates. It also has aired on Five, UKTV History, UKTV Drama in Great Britain, RTÉ in Ireland, ProSieben in Germany, TF1 in France, RTP in Portugal, Channel 7 Australia,...
. Dodi was originally interred in Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.-History:...
near Woking, Surrey, but was moved to the Fayed estate in Oxted
Oxted
Oxted is a commuter town in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, north of East Grinstead and south-east of Croydon.- History :The town lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
Memorials
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
. The first, unveiled on 12 April 1998, consists of photos of the two behind a pyramid-shaped display that holds a wine glass still smudged with lipstick from Diana's last dinner as well as a ring Dodi purchased the day before they died. The second, unveiled in 2005 and titled "Innocent Victims", is a 3m high bronze statue of the two dancing on a beach beneath the wings of an albatross. The memorials were designed by 80-year-old Bill Mitchell, a close friend of Fayed and architect for Harrods for more than 40 years.
See also
- Death of Diana, Princess of WalesDeath of Diana, Princess of WalesOn 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fayed's...
- Operation PagetOperation PagetOperation Paget was the Metropolitan Police inquiry, led by Lord Stevens, that investigated the conspiracy theories surrounding the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed on 31 August 1997....