Dodi Al Fayed Left His Fiancée Kelly Fisher To Be With Princess Diana
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The Crown has explored pretty much every event and aspect of life in the British royal family, and now, the sixth season has premiered on Netflix. The final installment of the beloved biopic series focuses on the end of Princess Diana's life, and the aftermath of her untimely death.
Fans of The Crown will recognize Mohammad from season 5, when his character was first introduced to the series. This time around, audiences will see more of Dodi and Diana's connection leading up to the car collision that killed them.
FYI, Diana's death is not going to be shown in the show's final season, but it will be written around, and referenced—and seems to take place in episode 3, per PEOPLE. Of course, the royal family has stressed that while The Crown is based in fact, it is technically fictional, so it’s understandable to have questions about Dodi and his life.
Here’s everything you need to know about the film producer, from his wealthy father to his famous connection to Princess Diana.
Who was Dodi Al Fayed?
Dodi Al Fayed, born April 15, 1955, was the oldest son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, according to Biography.com. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and graduated from Sandhurst Military Academy. He later attended Collège Saint Marc in Egypt and the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland.
Dodi dated Diana in the final months before her death in 1997. In fact, season 6 opens with the Saint-Tropez vacation that allowed the couple to bond.
But before dating Diana, Dodi was married to a woman named Susanne Gregard until their divorce in 1987, and he also dated Barbra Streisand at one point, per IMDb.
How did Dodi and Diana meet?
The couple first met at a polo match in 1986 while Diana was still married to Prince Charles, The Independent reports. Eleven years later, Diana reconnected with Dodi while vacationing at his father Mohamed’s home in Saint-Tropez with Prince William and Prince Harry.
How long were Dodi and Diana together?
They didn’t date for very long. Their relationship heated up early in the summer of 1997 and they both died later that August, per NBC News. (Diana and Charles officially divorced in 1996 after four years of separation.)
However, things seemed somewhat serious between these two. Jeweler Alberto Repossi told The Washington Post that the couple bought a diamond ring together at the Monaco branch of his store, but there's no evidence that they were engaged.
He left his then-fiancée for Diana.
Dodi was actually engaged to a model named Kelly Fisher in 1997, but he broke things off to be with Diana. Kelly wasn't too happy about this and actually sued Dodi for leaving her. She was represented by famous feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, per The Independent.
Allred said that Dodi "led her [Kelly] emotionally all the way up to the altar and abandoned her when they were almost there. He threw her love away in a callous way with no regard for her whatsoever," per the outlet.
How did Dodi die?
Diana and Dodi both died in Paris on August 31, 1997, when their car crashed into a pillar in a tunnel. They were being chased by paparazzi when the accident occurred, per Biography.com. Diana did not die immediately, but succumbed to her injuries hours later; Dodi, on the other hand, died instantly in the crash.
Who is Mohamed Al Fayed, and what's his connection to Dodi?
Dodi’s father is Mohamed Al Fayed, a billionaire who owned the Ritz Hotel in Paris and Harrod's (a famous luxury department store) in London, per Biography.com. He also owned the professional soccer team Fulham F.C., which he sold in 2013, per CNN.
Mohamed was born on January 27, 1929, in Alexandria, Egypt, but moved to the UK in the 1960s. He died earlier this year on August 30, 2023, at 94 years old. His net worth was around $2 billion, per Forbes.
Dodi was Mohamed's only son from his first marriage to Samira Khashoggi, but he has four more children from his second marriage to a Finnish socialite.
Mohamed is known for clashing with the British establishment after his son was killed with Diana in the car crash. He even alleged that a member of the British royal family might have been somehow involved in the fatal crash, per Reuters.
But in 1997, he accepted the verdict of an inquest jury looking into his allegations, which ultimately found that the two were "unlawfully killed by the grossly negligent driving of their chauffeur and paparazzi photographers pursuing them in a Paris road tunnel," per Reuters.
“I’m a father who lost his son, and I have done everything for 10 years. But now with the verdict, I am accepting it but with all the reservations which I have mentioned,” he said, Reuters reported.
What did Dodi do for work?
Dodi worked as a movie producer and he had some impressive credits to his name. He was a producer on movies like The Scarlet Letter and Hook, according to IMDb.
Most famously, Dodi worked on production for Chariots of Fire. In case you’re not familiar with it, this iconic movie that tells the story of two British track athletes who are trying to get a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics. Dodi was the executive producer on the film, and it won a bunch of Oscars in 1982, including Best Picture.
Tune in to season 6 of The Crown to learn more about the Al Fayed family, and their connection to Princess Diana.
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