Mohamed Al Fayed’s death on Wednesday at the age of 94 could spark a battle for his £1.7 billion empire between his warring children.
The self-made billionaire’s fortune will have to be divided one way or another among his four heirs from his second wife, Heini Wathen, 68.
When the former owner of Harrods died, it is believed he still had an extraordinary number of multi-million pound properties, including the Paris Ritz Hotel and a country house near Oxted, Surrey.
The property of many is held through trusts and in tax havens, including Bermuda, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how many he owned.
It is a mystery that his children Jasmine, 42, Karim, 39, Camilla, 38, and Omar, 35, will have to unravel as his empire is distributed to his relatives.
But what makes things extremely difficult is that Omar and Camila have been involved in a vicious power struggle with each other, which eventually ended up in the Supreme Court.
It resembles the hit TV show Succession, in which siblings bicker over father Logan Roy’s empire.
Omar Fayed, Karim Fayed, Heini Wathen, Mohamed Al-Fayed and Camilla Al-Fayed in 2010
Camilla al-Fayed attends “Borne To Dance”, a special charity performance in aid of Borne, at Paul Hamlyn Hall, The Royal Opera House on March 19, 2019
Karim Al-Fayed attends amfAR gala Sao Paulo 2018 at Dinho Diniz’s home on April 13, 2018
Jasmine Al Fayed at the Julien Macdonald Fashion Show, looking down the runway in 2002
Supreme Court documents suggest that at least three members of the family have been involved in a similar fight to many of the series’ characters.
According to the papers, during the first lockdown of 2020, Omar was using the gym on his father’s estate in Surrey when he, Wathen and Camilla got into an argument.
There is said to have been a ‘physical altercation’ between Omar and Camilla’s husband, Mohamad Esreb.
An extraordinary series of claims and counterclaims in the Supreme Court exposed the feud at the heart of the family.
Omar was seeking £100,000 in damages for an attack he said was orchestrated by Camilla and her husband, Syrian businessman Esreb.
Camilla Al-Fayed dressing up at the UNICEF Halloween Ball in London, October 2015
Omar said in an interview with the Mail in 2021 that he had been the victim of a ‘sibling power struggle’
Karim al Fayed and Brenda Costa ‘McQueen’ movie screening presented by Karim Al Fayed
They both denied the allegations and instead filed their own set of allegations which Omar rejected.
Chief among these was that Omar was a heavy user of illegal drugs, whose shady and irresponsible behavior embarrassed the family.
In an interview with the Mail in 2021, he insisted he was not a drug user, saying he was the victim of a “sibling power struggle.”
He said, “It is a common drama where there are families with an elderly leader who is in the winter period of his life.
“I’m not competing for a top spot. I really try to promote harmony.’
What this very public division means for the distribution of the late Mr. Al-Fayed’s fortune is unclear.
In terms of his assets, Al Fayed was at one point the owner of luxury apartments in London’s Park Lane and New York’s Manhattan.
Brenda Costa, Karim Al-Fayed and Masha Markova attend the Jasmine Ball in support of UNICEF’s Children of Syria emergency appeal
: Camilla al-Fayed and Stella McCartney attend The Eternity Charity Fundraiser hosted by Lola Bute to support Action On Addiction in 2022
When Mr Al-Fayed died, it is believed he still had an extraordinary number of multi-million pound assets, including the Paris Ritz Hotel and a country house near Oxted, Surrey.
The Oxted manor has 220 acres of land, a swimming pool, stables and gardens and is valued at around £100 million.
Nine Rolls-Royce cars, a lavish art collection and his now infamous statue of Michael Jackson at Fulham FC were among his possessions.
But like that football club, he would have thrown many overboard.
The Oxted Manor has 220 acres of grounds, a swimming pool, stables and gardens and is estimated to be worth around £100 million.
Meanwhile, the Parisian Ritz cost £10 million in 1979 but is now worth at least £500 million.
Al Fayed’s youngest son Omar is already a director of a company connected to his father’s Balnagown estate in the Highlands.
It is also known that the late New York magnate had luxury apartments worth millions.
Mr Al-Fayed died on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the high-speed accident at the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris that killed his son Dodi, 42, and Princess Diana, 36, on August 31, 1997.
Ritz chief of safety Henri Paul was driving the Mercedes 280S and was also found dead in the wreckage.
The former owner and chairman of Fulham passed away after a long illness. He was buried in a room next to his son’s in the family mausoleum in Oxted, Surrey, on Friday following a Muslim funeral at the London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park.
Mohamed Al-Fayed died at the age of 94 on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the high-speed accident in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris that killed Dodi, 42, and Diana, 36, in 1997.
Dodi Al-Fayed with Diana in St. Tropez in August 1997. Just over a week later, the couple were dead. Mr Al-Fayed thought they were about to announce their engagement
Four perpetually burning candles surround Dodi’s grave. In his last years, his Egyptian father spent long hours in the shadows of the mausoleum, mourning his son.
“I come here every day, maybe two or three hours, and memories come back to me as I sit,” Mr. Al-Fayed once said.
“I say prayers and think of Dodi, but sometimes I do my work here or have breakfast.”
Mr. Al-Fayed wrote to a member of the public in 2005 that “one day the truth will come out” about the deaths of Dodi and Diana.
Mohamed Al Fayed pictured in Paris in 2016. He sold Harrods and Fulham FC – his largest UK business holdings – in 2010 and 2013 respectively
Mr Al Fayed bought Fulham FC in 1997, his cash injection sending the club to the Premier League and European competitions in just a few short years. He is pictured here in 2011
He wrote: “I will continue to fight the many injustices done to the common people of this country, especially the murders of my son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales. One day the truth will come out.”
The businessman had claimed his son and Diana were killed in a series of documentaries and blamed the royal family for their deaths.
During a 2008 inquest, Mr Al-Fayed went on the witness stand and sensationally claimed that Prince Philip and the then Prince Charles conspired to kill the princess.
Lord Justice Scott Baker attacked his theories as ‘demonstrably baseless’, insisting that neither Philip nor MI6 were involved in her death.
A jury trial ruled that Diana and Dodi were wrongfully killed in the crash due to the ‘gross negligence’ of Mr Paul, who had been drinking. A lack of seat belts also contributed to their deaths.
Mr Al-Fayed’s allegations led to the Harrods store being stripped of its four royal warrants: the right to certify that a business supplies goods to the royal family by appointment.