Heartbroken family of Dodi Fayed can’t move on after his death in Princess Diana crash & say it ‘changed them for good’
THE sister of Dodi Fayed has spoken about the fateful night her brother died in the car crash with Princess Diana and said it has changed their family forever.
Speaking to , Camilla Fayed, who was 12 when the tragic event took place in Paris on August 31, 1997, said it is impossible to move on.
Camilla, now 35, said: “Such a cataclysmic event – how could it not change our family? For my dad, like any parent losing a child, it was horrific and, as it is for any family that experiences loss, it was heartbreaking.
“But on top of all that, we were never allowed to grieve in private. That was the main thing. You couldn’t compare notes with anyone else who’d had the experience because it was never on that scale.
“It was part of history, something that was attached to my family, still to this day. It’s not an easy thing to forget. No one will ever forget.”
Dodi had been dating Princess Diana, who was 36 at the time, for a few months when the crash took place in a road tunnel in France.
Camilla added that their father, Mohamed Al Fayed, who was at the time the owner of Harrods, Fulham Football Club and the Ritz Paris, has had a “weight” around him since the tragedy.
Camilla said that Netflix’s The Crown has made Dodi’s death “a subject again”, as the latest season featured Princess Diana joining the royal family for the first time.
She added that if future episodes feature Diana’s romance with Dodi after she got divorced from Prince Charles that it will be emotional for the family.
She explained: “Does it feel distant, like somebody’s else’s story? It’s never going to be distant because it’s obviously affected my family in such a profound way.”
Egyptian-born Dodi was from Mohamed Al Fayed’s first marriage, to Samira Khashoggi, with Camilla being one of his four children with Finnish model and actress Heini Wathen.
Camilla runs vegan restaurant Farmacy in Notting Hill, although she currently lives on a farm in Kent.
Diana and Dodi had first met at a 1986 polo match in Windsor while Diana was still married to Prince Charles, although nothing came from the exchange.
In the summer of 1997, Dodi invited Diana, William and Harry to spend time on his yacht in the south of France.
She later returned to the ship in August without her sons and a photo of the pair kissing made headlines around the world.
The lovers spent time in the South of France and Sardinia before flying to Paris where they later died.
Dodi died almost instantly at the scene of the crash and his body was flown to Britain, for a funeral service in line with Muslim customs.
Once Dodi's death was confirmed, the 11,000 electric bulbs which usually light up the facade of the Harrods store were switched off - which at the time was owned by Mohamed.
Mohamed reportedly spends 300 days a year sitting beside his son’s body for hours at his lavish mausoleum in the grounds of his mansion in Surrey.
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And a royal aide claims Diana’s relationship with Dodi would only have lasted a few more weeks had they both not died in the Paris car crash.