According to royal expert Jennie Bond, Prince Harry and Prince William are likely feeling deeply disturbed by the recent sexual abuse allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed. The two brothers, who were closely linked to the Al-Fayed family through their mother Princess Diana, may be struggling with the revelations surrounding the man who once played a significant role in their lives.
In a conversation with OK! MagazineBond shared her thoughts on how the Duke of Sussex and Prince of Wales might be reacting to the news. “I’m sure they will both have been as horrified as the rest of the world,” she said, emphasising the shock the royal siblings were likely to have felt.
Although the princes have not spoken at length about their relationship with Mohamed Al-Fayed or his son Dodi, who dated Princess Diana, Harry did offer some insight in his memoirs: Replacement“We don’t know much about his feelings towards Mohamed Al-Fayed or Dodi,” Bonus noted“William has never publicly addressed any of them, but Harry wrote in his book about his mother’s ‘friend.’ He said that as long as his mother was happy, they had no problem with him.”
Bond then referred to a passage from Replacement In the photo, Harry fondly recalled a gift from Mohamed Al-Fayed, suggesting that the relationship between the Al-Fayeds and the young princes had been quite positive. “Harry said that both he and William were very impressed by the laser pens from Harrods that Mohamed gave them, and wrote: ‘He was the father of Mum’s boyfriend so maybe he was trying to win us over. If so, job done. We thought those lasers were cool. We waved them around like lightsabers.’”
However, with the recent allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed, Bond believes both Harry and William are probably looking back uncomfortably at their memories of the Al-Fayed family. “I think they will both be upset now by the allegations and by the memory of Mohamed Al-Fayed making advances towards their mother and expecting his son to marry her,” he said.
The relationship between the royal family and the Al-Fayeds has always been fraught with tension, particularly following the tragic deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed in 1997. Mohamed Al-Fayed, a billionaire and former owner of Harrods, became a controversial figure due to his public conspiracy theories surrounding the accident that claimed their lives.
As the world grapples with the latest allegations against Al-Fayed, it is clear that the revelations are likely to have a significant emotional impact on the royal brothers, who once knew him as the father of their mother’s partner. For Prince Harry and Prince William, the allegations may further complicate their already complex feelings about a family that was once so closely tied to their own.