Tourist attraction cashing on Mohamed Al-Fayed memorabilia despite sex allegations

London’s National Portrait Gallery is selling greeting cards and prints of the shamed Harrods tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed successful its online acquisition store - a black-and-white photograph tin beryllium purchased arsenic a paper for £4

One of the UK’s apical tourer attractions is cashing successful connected Mohamed Al-Fayed memorabilia - contempt a torrent of enactment maltreatment allegations against him.

London’s National Portrait Gallery is selling greeting cards and prints of the shamed Harrods tycoon successful its online acquisition shop. A black-and-white photograph tin beryllium purchased arsenic a paper for £4 oregon a framed representation for £16.

The representation - featuring Fayed successful a suit surrounded by ornate furnishings - was taken successful 1980 and erstwhile graced the gallery’s walls. The representation is nary longer connected amusement arsenic exhibits are changed each six months.

But the revelation that the spin-offs are being utilized to marque wealth angered groups moving with enactment maltreatment victims. Lucy Duckworth of rape foundation the Survivors Trust said: “We are not amazed that a antheral of fame and powerfulness who abused these privileges to deliberately origin harm and lifelong interaction done acts of intersexual maltreatment is inactive exercising this powerfulness aft his death.

“This lone further highlights the hopeless request we person for a taste alteration astir this subject, which nary idiosyncratic oregon instauration is immune from.”

Our daze revelation comes aft a lawyer supporting 290 alleged victims said Mr Al-Fayed’s offending could beryllium connected the aforesaid standard arsenic serial enactment offender Jimmy Savile.

It follows a question of allegations against the billionaire businessman aft a BBC exposé broadcast the claims of 20 women. The documentary tells however Harrods failed to intervene and adjacent helped screen up the allegations earlier his decease past twelvemonth aged 94.

Since airing successful September, hundreds of alleged victims and witnesses person travel forward. And immoderate 290 women person present applied to a compensation strategy acceptable up by Harrods.

This week lawyer Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, appointed arsenic an advocator to the Justice for Harrods Survivors radical said: “We could beryllium talking astir thing connected the standard of Jimmy Savile.

“What we bash cognize is that determination are galore radical - and survivors person said this to maine already - that were complicit [in Al Fayed’s abuse].”

The National Portrait Gallery is globally renowned and the Princess of Wales is patron. There is nary proposition she is alert the products are inactive connected sale.

A Women’s Aid spokesperson said: “It is concerning to spot that memorabilia celebrating an alleged intersexual maltreatment perpetrator continues to beryllium sold, contempt truthful galore survivors bravely speaking retired earlier this year.

“Women’s Aid stands successful solidarity with the survivors of Mohammed Al-Fayed and others who person experienced intersexual abuse.”

The National Portrait Gallery said: “The representation of Mohamed Al Fayed is nary longer disposable to bargain arsenic a print. We apologise for immoderate upset caused. No prints of the representation person been sold by the gallery.”