How Mohamed Al Fayed used 'royal mansion' shown in The Crown to 'rape and prey on victims'

Mohamed Al Fayed, the precocious billionaire and erstwhile proprietor of luxury section store Harrods has been accused of intersexual abuse, with immoderate of it alleged to person taken spot astatine a location linked to the royals

Mohammed Al Fayed is alleged to person sexually assaulted women astatine a location linked to the royals that featured successful deed Netflix play The Crown.

At slightest 100 women who were ex-staff astatine the precocious tycoon's luxury Harrods store, allege they were attacked crossed 24 years. Five impeach him of rape. A caller BBC documentary besides claims Al Fayed deployed an service of aides to soundlessness his alleged victims and utilized his powerfulness and wealthiness to evade justice.

The drawstring of alleged attacks are said to person taken spot astatine Al Fayed's Park Lane flat successful London, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile different spot wherever assaults are alleged to person happened is 'Villa Windsor' successful Paris and successful the caller documentary, called Al Fayed: Predator astatine Harrods, 1 of his erstwhile employees claims she was raped by him there.

Al Fayed was the proprietor of a French mansion erstwhile owned by the precocious Queen's uncle, the Duke of Windsor who abdicated from the throne successful 1936 – and helium adjacent turned it into a depository of sorts to the British monarchy. 'Villa Windsor', arsenic Al Fayed came to telephone it, is simply a 14-room mansion connected the outskirts of Paris. The unthinkable gathering was the location of King Edward VIII and his American divorcee woman Wallis Simpson from 1952 until 1986.

When Ms Simpson died that year, Al Fayed took retired a 50-year lease connected the spot for the sum of 1million Francs per year. The lease besides required him to walk 30million Francs successful full connected renovating the property, which had dilatory begun to autumn into a authorities of insignificant disrepair.

"It's similar a mausoleum," Al Fayed told People Magazine successful a 1990 interview, having spent determination successful the portion of £10.5million successful full connected sprucing up the villa. "It sometimes gives you the creeps—both of them having died here. But it's inactive a blessed place, a large phantasy which I emotion to unrecorded in."

Al Fayed, whose lad Dodi died successful a car clang alongside Princess Diana successful 1997, adjacent went the other mile erstwhile it came to recruitment. So keen was the millionaire to support an authentic royal acquisition astatine the villa that helium hired the erstwhile Duke of Edinburgh's ex-valet, Sydney Johnson, to oversee renovations astatine the spot and curate a backstage postulation of royal memorabilia to beryllium stored astatine the site.

In February 1998, a postulation of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's idiosyncratic possessions that had been held astatine the villa was enactment up for auction by Al Fayed. Amongst the items were 10,000 backstage photographs, the table utilized by the Duke of Windsor himself and a tiny doll fixed to King Edward VIII by his parent Queen Mary.

It's believed helium had spent astir £4million connected purchasing the items successful the archetypal place, and they were divided crossed 3,200 antithetic lots. All profits from the merchantability went to the Dodi Fayed International Charitable Foundation and causes associated with the precocious Princess of Wales.

In play 5 of The Crown, Diana's improbable relationship with Al Fayed features heavy and shows him increasing person to the royals. His quality is seen talking astir restoring 'Villa Windsor' saying it volition beryllium his "gift to the British Royal Family ". However, The Crown did not movie astatine the existent property.

Al Fayed died aged 94 successful August past year. Harrods' owners said they were "utterly appalled" by the a­llegations and apologised for the information that his victims had been failed. Met Commander Kevin ­Southworth said: "We are alert of assorted allegations of intersexual offences made implicit a fig of years successful ­relation to the precocious Mohammed Al Fayed which were reported to us. If further accusation comes to airy it volition beryllium assessed."