Mohamed al-Fayed’s death at the age of 94 was announced late last night. The news sent me hunting in the archives for an interview I did with him in Harrods in 2003 for The Sunday Times. I was writing for the paper’s Scottish edition, hence the emphasis on Balnagown, his castle in the Highlands, and his legal manoeuvres in the Scottish courts. Here is the interview in its entirety. I hope I captured something of his character.
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The Sunday Times, December 14, 2003
Mohamed comes to the mountains
Tomorrow Mohamed al-Fayed's crusade for an inquiry into the death of Dodi and Diana heads to the Scottish courts. He tells Kenny Farquharson why
In Harrods, Christmas shoppers jostle in front of the shrine to Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi al-Fayed. They stare at the pictures of the smiling couple set in giant gilt frames and point to the carefully preserved wine glass the princess drank from in the Paris Ritz on her last night alive, still smeared with her lipstick. They coo at the diamond-encrusted ring that Dodi, it is said, planned to give her the following day. Then they wander off clutching their green carrier bags.
Six floors above, in a suite of private offices with views over the rooftops of Knightsbridge, Dodi's father is running late. There is nothing else to do but explore the reception room where he has agreed to a rare audience. On one wall is a photograph of the Harrods chairman receiving the Legion d'Honneur from Jacques Chirac. The volumes in a small bookcase in the corner include Fowler's Modern English Usage, biographies of the Queen Mother and Churchill and The Which Guide to Tax 1987-88.
Here too is a memento of that Paris car crash of August 30, 1997. On a side table in an ornate silver frame is a child's drawing of Diana and Dodi enfolded in the wings of a dove and overseen by an angel.
Their true guardian, though, is Mohamed al-Fayed, who suddenly enters wearing a multi-coloured shirt with a white collar and black silk tie.
As is his way, al-Fayed comes bearing gifts. The first is a lavish coffee table book about his Balnagown estate in Easter Ross. The second is a copy of Walter Bower's A History Book for Scots, which al-Fayed regards as proof the Scots are descended from the Egyptians. Written in the 15th century, it tells how Scota, the pharaoh's daughter, brought the Stone of Destiny from Egypt to Scotland and gave her name to a new nation.
The Scottish link is one al-Fayed is keen to play up today, with a paean of praise for all things Scottish and Scotland itself. "They are more passionate, more cultured. I feel at home there. They still have the good society, with family life, you know? The environment is completely different. This is why I chose to live there."
He has good reason just now to pander to Scottish sensibilities. Monday morning will see him attending the high court in Edinburgh for a legal challenge prepared by his lawyers. This is not in itself remarkable. Al-Fayed has judicial reviews like other people have haircuts. His many previous opponents in courtroom tussles have included Jack Straw, the Inland Revenue, former MP Neil Hamilton and the CIA.
But this time the stakes for al-Fayed are higher than usual. His adversary is Lord Boyd, the lord advocate, who has refused to order a Scottish public inquiry into Diana and Dodi's deaths. The Harrods boss says his status as a Scottish resident, albeit an occasional one, means he is entitled to have his son's death investigated by the Scottish authorities. The lord advocate argues that death in Paris falls outwith his jurisdiction.
There has already been a French inquiry into the high-speed car crash. It was dismissed by al-Fayed as "inadequate". An inquest is expected to open within months, but it has a limited remit. Al-Fayed believes only an independent public inquiry can get to the truth, and he sees the hearing beginning in Edinburgh tomorrow as his last chance to secure one.
Ever since Diana and Dodi died in what he simply calls "the tragedy", al-Fayed has fought a dogged, intemperate, grief-fuelled and paranoid campaign to have the circumstances of their deaths scrutinised in Britain. The highlight of this crusade was his allegation that the Duke of Edinburgh had plotted Diana's death.
But many others have been accused of complicity or cover-up, ranging from the security services and the royal household to the lord chancellor and Tony Blair.
Al-Fayed wastes no time before setting about his opponents. His chosen weapon is not forensic argument or objective debate. It is the anti-personnel device that indiscriminately lays waste those he believes obstruct him. The worst possible motives are ascribed to his perceived enemies. Accusations are expressed in a machine-gun stream of consciousness. The Duke of Edinburgh is "a racist brought up by Nazis", the royal family "a cancer", the intelligence services "gangsters who run the country", and Blair's government "trash politicians" who are the willing dupes of the royals and MI5.
He holds these people, "the Establishment", collectively responsible for the death of his son. "They know that Diana was pregnant and expecting a baby from my son.
"And they know her engagement was going to be on Monday because they are spying on them - mobile phones and satellites - while they spend their holiday on my yacht.
"They know exactly and they will not accept it. How can Prince William and Prince Harry have a step-brother from my son? It was no accident. And they do nothing. No inquest? No public inquiry? How can there be nothing? She is the mother of the future king. She was not anybody. She is the most popular woman on earth. It is not acceptable."
I ask if friends ever tell him to let it go, to find some peace by choosing another way to grieve. For a moment it seems he may lose his temper, but he gathers himself. "Do you have children? You do? I'm sure you love your kids. If you love your kids, do you think if somebody takes a child from you and slaughters him..." He lets the word hang in the air. "Do you think you would live in peace until you get who done that?"
In the years immediately following the Paris car crash, al-Fayed's statements were dismissed as unhinged ravings. Routinely they still are. But public opinion has shifted. Either the world is getting crazier or al-Fayed's theories are starting to look less deranged. Ask the British public. Three months ago an NOP poll found 49% believed there had been a cover-up over Diana's death. More than one in four - 27% -said they believed she was murdered.
A war and a butler's book are the most obvious explanations for such a change in attitude. The government's behaviour over Iraq has given licence to conspiracy theorists and damaged the public's confidence in the probity of those in authority. To a lot of people, all that stuff about the malevolent power of the intelligence services suddenly doesn't sound so dumb.
Perfect timing, therefore, for the bestselling book by Paul Burrell, Diana's butler. This summer's revelations are dismissed as self-serving aggrandisement by some, but have struck a chord with the public. In particular, the book has lent new credibility to the conspiracy theorists' belief that tapes and documents Diana possessed could seriously damage the royal family.
"Diana lived with me for two weeks," says al-Fayed, the pride still plain in his voice, "and she told me her fears about her life. She was exactly black and white.
"If anything happens to me, everything is there in a box. Tapes, letters, all the threats she got from the royal household.
"I called [Burrell] the Monday after the tragedy. I said: 'You know exactly what happened and you know exactly what Diana told you and you have the box there. If you really care about Diana you will try to help me.' He refused. Now he has come up after six years and showed one of the letters, but he still has a lot of things. I'm sure it will all come out." Burrell denies ever possessing the box.
This is now one of the main strands of al-Fayed's argument for a public inquiry - that it would make public once and for all the contents of the magic box that has been keeping the royals, the police and the tabloids so busy.
"Those tapes and things have been taken now into Scotland Yard. There are other things as well. I am expecting to order a public inquiry, and a judge to be appointed to answer all the unanswered questions."
If there is even a smidgeon of truth in al-Fayed's theories about the Establishment, then in many ways it is fortunate in its opponent. Al-Fayed's fondness for overstatement makes him an easy man to dismiss. Yes, he is a grieving father, but his eagerness to ascribe blame does his case no favours. He is also the man denied British citizenship because of a "serious want of probity", according to Jack Straw when he was home secretary, and the man at the centre of the "cash for questions" saga that launched the entertainment careers of Neil and Christine Hamilton.
Al-Fayed and his advisers are hoping his distaste for the London Establishment finds a ready echo across much of Scotland, particularly in legal circles. But in an interview intended as a charm offensive aimed at influential Scots, he cannot help but pick some fights. The Scottish executive, for example, are "dummies for Westminster". Their crime? Land reform legislation that impinges on al-Fayed's ability to live the untrammelled life of a feudal lord in Balnagown.
"I don't think those politicians who have been elected really are real Scots. Just to come out with these land reform things is just completely crazy. They have to go to mental hospital. How can they do that? It's stupid. My property, 65,000 acres, is open to everyone. I have just 40 acres around my home that is private.
"You don't need to do this.
"It does not bother me because these politicians are here today, gone tomorrow. I hope next time you will elect more intelligent politicians, more intellectual, and no more dummies who just take instructions from Westminster and won't stand up for their own country. I want you to declare independence, because I am sure I would have the first Scottish passport."
So does he regard Scotland as his last recourse for justice? "If I can't get justice there, then I'm completely... " He makes a gesture of helplessness with his arms. "My belief in the Scottish justice system will be the same as what happened to me here." But he believes he has a better chance in Scotland? "Yes because again your system is different. The lord chancellor, it is harder for him to interfere. Maybe there is sometimes a way they can use their influence through politicians. But I still believe it possible for justice."
His affinity with the Scots seems genuine enough, albeit based on a highly dubious historical connection. "It is my ancestors and my country, and I feel at home."
Balnagown, which he has spent £4m restoring to its pink-harled glory, plainly means a lot to him. As he describes how he came to own it, his voice is calm and free from ire and bile for the first time in the interview. "It is fascinating. There is a 1,100-year history. It was just by chance I was visiting the place when I was 22 or 23 years old. I had just gone there because I had an oil facilities handling company and Nigg Bay was the first one. I said to myself I am going to buy a house there.
"Just on my way I find this spectacular fairytale building there and it was in a terrible state. And the factor came in and said, can I help you? And I just said no, I was just fascinated with the building. He took me inside and there were these unbelievable documents and historical things all covered in dust. He said the last laird just left and the place is for sale. I asked how much are you asking and he said £60,000. I shake hands with the guy and within 48 hours it was done." Al-Fayed has now opened a retail complex on the estate and has plans ranging from wind-farms to leisure parks.
The audience is coming to an end, and al-Fayed summons more gifts -two large Harrods teddy bears for my sons. Aware of the unhappy track record of some of those who have accepted his munificence, I decline with as much good grace as I can muster. "It isn't a bribe," says one of his aides later. "He gives these to anyone who walks through that door who has children."
Al-Fayed asks if I have seen the store's Egyptian hall and Egyptian escalator, which feature sphinx-like sculptures with familiar facial features - his own. The chairman takes this opportunity to quash rumours he intends to sell the store - now he has decided that, for tax reasons, he will have to reside mainly in Switzerland.
"My commitment is not to the gangsters who are running this country. My commitment is to the ordinary people. I am very popular, you know. The Egyptian escalator and Egyptian room, they are listed monuments now. Nobody can change them. And you will see my face there."
Why does he do that, put his face everywhere? "Because I like to have my face stay for ever, just to show the Establishment I am not going away. I have told them that when I die - in another 100 years - I will be mummified and buried out there... " He waves a hand towards the store.
"And people can come and visit me, and my soul will stay here and give you hell, you bastards."
# This interview first appeared in The Sunday Times on December 14, 2003
He was quite the rattlebag of views, eh.
You’ve caught his character perfectly. I always liked him even though he was a bit of a rogue.