Former Harrods boss Al Fayed was a 'monster' who abused young women, lawyers for his accusers say

LONDON (AP) — Mohamed Al Fayed, the former boss of Harrods, was a “monster’ who raped and sexually abused young women, lawyers representing dozens of his accusers said Friday.

The abuse went on through much of Al Fayed's 25-year tenure — from 1985 on — at the helm of the world-renowned London department store, the lawyers said. They spoke at a televised news conference in London in the wake of the BBC documentary “Al-Fayed: Predator At Harrods.”

The four-member legal team told reporters they have been retained by 37 of Al Fayed’s accusers and were in the process of adding more clients, including potentially from other organizations that Al Fayed was involved with.

In the documentary, which was broadcast on Thursday, the Egypt-born Al Fayed who died last year at the age of 94, was accused of raping at least five women at his properties in London and Paris and of committing scores of other acts of assault and physical violence, both in and outside of Harrods.

“We will say it plainly: Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster,” said lead lawyer Dean Armstrong. “But he was a monster enabled by a system, a system that pervaded Harrods.”

Armstrong said the case combined “some of the most horrific elements” of cases such as those involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein — well-known and powerful men who were able to avoid sexual abuse allegations for years before their victims finally came forward.

Some of Al Fayed's accusers were teenagers at the time of the abuse, with at least one as young as 15, according to the BBC documentary.

London's Metropolitan Police have said they were made aware of allegations in the past and had questioned Al Fayed in 2008 in connection with the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old but prosecutors at the time did not take the cases forward.

There was also no comment from Al Fayed's family.

One of Al Fayed’s accusers spoke at the news conference. She was identified only as Natacha and said the billionaire businessman was “highly manipulative" and "preyed on the most vulnerable, those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn’t have parents to protect them.”

Natacha, who said she joined Al Fayed's team of personal assistants at the age of 19, recounted being invited to his private apartment one night “on the pretext of a job review.” When she arrived, she said she saw the bedroom door partially open with sex toys in view.

“I felt petrified. I perched myself at the very end of the sofa and then … Mohamed Al Fayed, my boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself onto me," she said.

After kicking herself free, she said Al Fayed threatened her.

“He laughed at me," she said. “He then composed himself and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was never to breathe a word of this to anyone and that if I did, I would never work in London again and he knew where my family lived.”

"I felt scared and sick,” she added.

In the United Kingdom, victims often identify themselves by only one name to protect their privacy. It wasn’t clear why Natacha gave only one name while appearing before cameras, or if that was her real first name.

The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward and voluntarily identified themselves. The team of lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.

Al Fayed moved to Britain in the 1960s, after early investments in shipping in Italy and the Middle East, and started building an empire.

At the height of his wealth, he owned the Ritz hotel in Paris and the southwest London soccer team Fulham. He moved in high circles in London but was never knighted. He became a prominent conspiracy theorist after the Paris crash that killed his son Dodi and Princess Diana in 1997.

Al Fayed sold Harrods in 2010 to a company owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.

In a statement to the BBC, the Harrods owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse but added that they were only made aware of them last year.

“While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organization, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behavior can never be repeated in the future," the owners said in a statement.

Armstrong dismissed Harrods' claim that the owners knew nothing of the sexual allegations made against Al Fayed over many years, citing several media reports in recent years over allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of Al Fayed. The BBC documentary said at least one of the women had signed a non-disclosure agreement.

“We are here to say publicly and to the world, or to Harrods in front of the world, that it is time that they took responsibility," Armstrong said. "That is something they should do as soon as possible.”

U.S. lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented victims in some of the most notorious sexual abuse cases in recent years, including those about abuse by Epstein, Weinstein and Bill Cosby, also spoke and lambasted the culture at Harrods during Al Fayed's tenure.

“Harrods is often referred to as the most beautiful store in the world … many women dreamed of working there," she said. "However, underneath the Harrods glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment.”

Three of Mr Al Fayed's accusers, left to right, Katherine (no surname given), Lindsay Mason and Gemma (no surname given), pose for a photograph after a press conference about the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

FILE - Egyptian businessman and Ritz hotel owner Mohammed Al Fayed poses with his hotel staff in Paris, Monday, June 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, File)

One of Mr Al Fayed's accusers, Natacha (right), no surname given, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' is reassured by American Attorney Gloria Allred after speaking during a press conference to discuss her involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Dean Armstrong KC, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' speaks during a press conference to discuss the involvement of the legal team in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

One of Mr Al Fayed's accusers, Natacha (no surname given), who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' attends a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Members of the legal team, barrister Bruce Drummond, left, and Dean Armstrong KC, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods', hold a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

From left, American attorney Gloria Allred, Natacha (no surname given) and barrister Maria Mulla, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' hold a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Natacha (no surname given), left, and barrister Maria Mulla, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' hold a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

One of Mr Al Fayed's accusers, Natacha (no surname given), who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' speaks during a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

One of Mr Al Fayed's accusers, Natacha (no surname given), who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods', looks on during a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Members of the legal team, Dean Armstrong KC and American attorney Gloria Allred, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' hold a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

The legal team, from left, barrister Bruce Drummond, Dean Armstrong KC, attorney Gloria Allred, Natacha and barrister Maria Mulla, who featured in 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' attend a press conference to discuss their involvement in the investigation and the legal claim against Harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees, at Kent House in Knightsbridge, London, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. Multiple ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian billionaire who owned the luxury department store for more than 25 years, of rape and sexual assault. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is suffering from a cold and will deliver his Sunday blessing from indoors, the Vatican said, announcing the precautions ahead of a busy Christmas period and launch of the Holy Year that will sorely test Francis' stamina and health.

The Vatican cited the cold temperatures outside and Francis' strenuous week ahead, after a wheezing and congested-sounding pope delivered his annual Christmas greeting to Vatican bureaucrats earlier Saturday.

Francis, who turned 88 this past week, on Tuesday is due to inaugurate his big Holy Year and preside over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations in St. Peter's Basilica. On Thursday, he is scheduled to travel to Rome's main prison to inaugurate the Jubilee there.

Francis has long suffered bouts of bronchitis, especially in winter. In 2023, he ended up the hospital to receive intravenous antibiotics. He had part of one lung removed as a young man and frequently seems out of breath, especially after walking or exerting himself.

He took several minutes to catch his breath on Saturday, when he delivered his annual Christmas greetings to Vatican bureaucrats and lay employees. Once again, he used the occasion to admonish the backstabbing and gossiping among his closest collaborators and urge them instead to speak well of one another.

“A church community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk in the life of humility, renouncing evil thinking and speaking ill of others,” Francis said. “Gossip is an evil that destroys social life, sickens people’s hearts and leads to nothing. The people say it very well: Gossip is zero.”

“Beware of this,” he added.

By now Francis’ annual Christmas address to the priests, bishops and cardinals who work in the Vatican Curia has become a lesson in humility -– and humilitation -- as Francis offers a public dressing down of some of the sins in the workplace at the headquarters of the Catholic Church.

In the most biting edition, in 2014, Francis listed the “15 ailments of the Curia,” in which he accused the prelates of using their Vatican careers to grab power and wealth. He accused them of living “hypocritical” double lives and forgetting — due to “spiritual Alzheimer’s” — that they’re supposed to be joyful men of God.

In 2022, Francis warned them that the devil lurks among them, saying it is an “elegant demon” that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith.

This year, Francis revisited a theme he has often warned about: gossiping and speaking ill of people behind their backs. It was a reference to the sometimes toxic atmosphere in closed environments such as the Vatican or workplaces where office gossip and criticism circulate but are rarely aired in public.

Francis has long welcomed frank and open debates and even has welcomed criticism of his own work. But he has urged critics to tell it to his face, and not behind his back.

Francis opened his address Saturday with a reminder of the devastation of the war in Gaza, where he said even his patriarch had been unable to enter due to Israeli bombing.

"Yesterday children have been bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war," he said.

The annual appointment kicks off Francis’ busy Christmas schedule, this year made even more strenuous because of the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year on Christmas Eve. The Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome over 2025, and Francis has a dizzying calendar of events to minister to them.

After addressing the Vatican prelates, Francis issued a less critical address to the Vatican’s lay employees who gathered in the city state's main audience hall along with their families. Francis thanked them for their service and urged them to make sure they take time to play with their children and visit grandparents.

“If you have any particular problems, tell your bosses, we want to resolve them,” he added at the end. “You do this with dialogue, not by keeping quiet. Together we’ll try to resolve the difficulties.”

It was an apparent reference to reports of growing unease within the Vatican workforce that has been called out by the Association of Vatican Lay Employees, the closest thing the Vatican has to a labor union. The association has in recent months voiced alarm about the health of the Vatican pension system and fears of even more cost-cutting, and demanded the Vatican leadership listen to workers’ concerns.

Earlier this year 49 employees of the Vatican Museums — the Holy See's main source of revenue — filed a class-action lawsuit in the Vatican tribunal complaining about labor woes, overtime and working conditions.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Francis arrives to exchange season greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis exchanges season greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis exchanges the season's greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis arrives to exchange the season's greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis exchanges the season's greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he exchanges season greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis exchanges the season's greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis meets with Italian pilgrims participating in the Camino de Santiago, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis tries a skullcap received by faithful during the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)