Growing up, Princess Diana was all my mum and aunties could chat about, hailing her as one of the only public figures they could relate to despite her aristocratic background and marriage to the British Crown. On the other hand, my dad and uncles, who also saw something else in Lady D (read: her looks), could only go on about how her life reached an unfortunate early end following her short-lived romance with Dodi Fayed, an Egyptian businessman, film mogul, and son of billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, often suggesting that her tragic accident beneath Alma’s Bridge in Paris in 1997 was more than just a simple coincidence of circumstances but was a conspiracy plan hatched by the monarchy because they could not fathom seeing the Princess of Wales dating an Arab man.
Nearly 26-years after her death, Princess Diana’s love story with Fayed continues to prompt conversations and conspiracy theories about who really holds power behind-the-scenes and the lengths they would go to to protect their interests and image, even if it meant silencing a beloved icon at all costs.
While the mystery surrounding the circumstances of Princess Diana’s death continues to captivate the public’s imagination, opening to this day debates and investigations into the untold secrets of her life and the events that led to that fateful night in Paris, today, we gathered a few interesting facts about Dodi Fayed, the man who was at the center of Princess Diana’s final chapter.
Dodi isn’t his real name
His full name is Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena’em Fayed. Dodi was only a nickname that eventually became so popular that most almost exclusively refer to him by his nickname.
He’s the son of an Egyptian billionaire
Dodi is the son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, an Alexandria-born businessman who once owned the luxury department store Harrods in London, Fulham FC, as well as the Ritz Hotel in Paris. He was once considered one of the wealthiest men in the Arab World and the planet as well as one of the most influential as well.
He’s Jamal Khashoggi’s first cousin
Dodi’s mother, Samira Khasoggi, was a prominent Saudi author and founder of Al Sharkiah magazine. Her brother, Ahmad Khashoggi, was the father of late Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who passed away in 2018.
He’s an Oscar winner
Fayed’s accomplishments in the film industry were noteworthy, having notably bagged an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1981 for his role in producing Chariots of Fire.
