al fayed yacht in the crown

The True Story of Princess Diana's Vacation on Mohamed Al Fayed's Yacht in Saint Tropez

The trip features in the final season of The Crown .

"Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven," Prince Harry shared about the vacation he and Prince William joined his mother for aboard the vessel in his memoir, Spare . Here, some of the most memorable photos of Princess Diana with her sons and the Fayeds on the Jonikal in July 1997.

Princess Diana on board the Jonikal yacht, where she first got to know Dodi better.

Princess Diana was friendly with Mohamed Al Fayed, who had been in royal-adjacent circles for some time due to his ownership of Harrods department store.

Diana brought her two sons, Prince William (head down, center) and Prince Harry (right), on vacation with her.

"We'd been with Mummy weeks earlier when she first met him, in St. Tropez," Harry writes in Spare —the 'him' refers to Dodi. "We were having a grand time, just the three of us, staying at some old gent's villa."

At the time, Diana had recently broken up with British Pakistani heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan, who could not handle the media attention surrounding their relationship. Her friends later shared that they believed her fling with Dodi was to make Hasnat jealous.

Diana pictured with her bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, who would later be the sole survivor of the crash that killed Princess Diana and Dodi.

Princess Diana waved to Trevor ashore in Saint-Tropez.

The Princess looked happy to be spending time with her sons.

Harry writes, "There was much laughter, horseplay, the norm whenever Mummy and Willy and I were together, though even more so on that holiday. Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven. The weather was sublime, the food was tasty, Mummy was smiling."

Paparazzi snapped Diana giving her youngest, Prince Harry, a big hug.

Diana, ever the style icon, had some great swimwear moments on this vacation, including this neon set.

She also rocked a leopard-print one piece.

Princess Diana was beginning to navigate her not-quite-royal, but definitely not normal, life post her divorce from Prince Charles .

At the time, Dodi was reportedly dating American model Kelly Fisher —and she said that she was actually on the yacht in Saint Tropez with the Fayeds and Princess Diana.

Princess Diana made sure the vacation was fun for her sons; here, she rode on a jet ski with Prince Harry.

"Best of all," Harry remembers in Spare, "there were jet skis. Whose were they? Don't know. But I vividly remember Willy and me riding them out to the deepest part of the channel, circling while waiting for the big ferries to come. We used their massive wakes as ramps to get airborne. I'm not sure how we weren't killed"

Wearing life jackets, the royal mother-son duo zoomed around in the water together.

Princess Diana smiled as she swam in the sea off the coast of France.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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What Really Happened During Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s Vacation?

The Crown depicts her jaunts on Mohamed Al-Fayed’s yacht, the Jonikal, where her romance with Dodi kicked off.

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Diana was invited by Mohamed, a friend and businessman, to vacation in Saint-Tropez with her sons in July 1997. The Harrods owner would also goad his own son to join, too. The invitation came at a good time, after a few rough blows for Diana: Prince Charles was throwing a lavish birthday party for Camilla Parker Bowles at Highgrove, the house he and Diana once shared. And she had just broken up with surgeon Hasnat Khan, due to the media frenzy around their relationship. It was the month before William and Harry would be at Balmoral with their father and the rest of the royals, who no longer accepted her. So off she went, straight to the $20 million yacht that Fayed bought just before the trip to impress her—Tina Brown writes in The Diana Chronicles .

Prince Harry has looked back fondly at that trip, mostly because of the quality time they spent with their mom. “Actually, we’d been with Mummy weeks earlier when she first met him [Dodi], in St. Tropez,” he writes in her memoir Spare , per Today . “We were having a grand time, just the three of us, staying at some old gent’s villa.

“There was much laughter, horseplay, the norm whenever Mummy and Willy and I were together, though even more so on that holiday. Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven. The weather was sublime, the food was tasty, Mummy was smiling.”

But the cameras followed her, like they always did. The Crown depicts photographers sailing out toward the Jonikal to snap images of the princess sunbathing and swimming in her one-piece. It also shows her approaching the boats filled with paparazzi to forge a deal: She’ll pose for them for a few shots if they’ll leave her and her kids alone.

Part of this is true. The New York Times reported in 1997 that Diana was quite cooperative with the press, at least during the first trip in July: “Three times, on separate occasions, she went out to the sea front and jumped off a small pier into the water, with photographers around her. Then, after leaving for 10 days with Mr. Fayed on the boat trip during which the photographs of the embracing couple were taken, she returned.”

“It was clear enough to all of us that she wanted to show the British establishment she was free,” Frederic Garcia, who photographed Diana on the trip, told the paper at the time. But her and the Al-Fayeds’ exasperation with the media grew after helicopters flew over the boat, according to the NYT .

Perhaps her openness to being photographed was her response to Camilla’s birthday party. “She just wanted to make the people at Balmoral as angry as possible,” her friend, art collector Lord Palumbo, told Brown. Now it wasn’t just a revenge dress; it was a revenge photo shoot with revenge swimsuits on a revenge vacation.

Brown even writes that the biggest photos from the trip, of the princess kissing a shirtless Dodi on the boat, “were the direct result of tips from Diana herself.” After they were published, she called photographer Jason Fraser, who “was in cahoots” with Mario Brenna, who shot the images, to ask why the pictures were so grainy. But she wasn’t the only one working with the press. Mohamed also had a publicist tip gossip columns on her and Dodi’s whereabouts and frame their getaway as a sensational romance, according to Brown.

Meanwhile, Dodi was juggling this burgeoning love story with another one. He was already engaged when he first joined Diana on the boat at his father’s behest in July. His fiancée was Kelly Fisher , an American actress and model, and their wedding was scheduled for the following month, on August 9, 1997. He had even left Fisher in Paris to board the Jonikal in St. Tropez. She joined later but, just as it’s shown in The Crown , she was relegated to a different Al-Fayed boat, where Dodi would visit her at night, Brown writes. Fisher soon caught on. In August, she sued Dodi for breach of contract, and was represented by high-profile lawyer Gloria Allred. But she withdrew the suit after his death.

In Spare , Harry remembered thinking Dodi was “cheeky” but overall was content with the relationship: “As long as Mummy’s happy, I told Willy, who said, he felt the same.” But Brown reported in her 2007 book that Prince William grew concerned. He told friends it was weird that they were on vacation with what seemed like a “substitute family.” When photos of Diana and Dodi on the boat were published, William complained to her that the boys at school would mock him for it.

After doing significant charity work in Bosnia with land mine victims, Diana reconvened with Dodi on the Jonikal in August. “The fact that she came back for a second visit so soon really shows her loneliness more than it does a passion for Dodi,” Dominick Dunne reported for Vanity Fair in 2008. But the privacy—or whatever amount of it that they had—might have appealed to her. “A splendid yacht. A helicopter. A private plane. Guards to keep the paparazzi at bay. She probably knew that she was being used by a social climber for his and his son’s advancement in London society, but in high society it was a fair deal. Each benefited.”

Dodi and Diana’s romance would be short-lived, but he showered her with gifts during their six-week relationship, including a pearl bracelet and diamond wristwatch, according to Vanity Fair . With him, the princess felt “so taken care of,” her confidant Lady Elsa Bowker told Brown. And on top of that, he was a “sympathetic, unthreatening listener,” wrote Tom Bower, author of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s unauthorized biography.

But their relationship probably wasn’t going to be a lasting one. According to Brown, Diana suspected Dodi might propose to her, but told a friend that the ring would go “firmly on the fourth finger of my right hand,” meaning she would not have accepted. Her sister Sarah McCorquodale later testified, “I just did not think the relationship had much longer to go.”

It’s been believed that the romance was even orchestrated by Mohamed himself. According to Bower, the older Al-Fayed would check in on Dodi and Diana during the trip (which is also portrayed in The Crown this season). McCorquodale also told the court that Diana “thought the boat was being bugged by Mr Al-Fayed Senior.”

On that second trip in August, Diana and Dodi were photographed together in the South of France and Sardinia, before heading to Paris for their tragic final days. There, they would be chased by cameras again for the last time.

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The True Story Behind 'The Crown’s Infamous Kiss Photograph

Princess Diana became the most photographed woman in the world after "The Kiss."

Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 6 of The Crown.

The Big Picture

• Princess Diana's life was constantly invaded by the paparazzi, who followed her every movement and turned her personal relationships into a public spectacle.
• Mario Brenna's photograph of Diana and Dodi Fayed sharing an intimate moment on a yacht sparked a frenzy in the press and fueled a relentless pursuit for their pictures.
• The paparazzi's obsession with capturing Diana's image ultimately contributed to her tragic death in a car crash, and "The Kiss" photograph played a significant role in these events.

Since the imminent rise of paparazzi culture during the 1990s, candid photographs of celebrities have always held a negative stigma, especially after the tragic death of Princess Diana ( Elizabeth Debicki ). Part 1 of The Crown 's final season, streaming on Netflix, has a major focus on the summer of 1997, when the recently divorced Princess of Wales became the prized jewel of a media frenzy. Without the personal security of the Royal Family, Diana was not afforded the kind of privacy she was given during her marriage to Prince Charles ( Dominic West ). Her every movement was followed through long-lens cameras ( Diana reportedly yelled at a photographer outside a movie theater in London and shouted, “You make my life hell!" ), and the press made her life into a scrutinized fishbowl — even her personal relationships were not her own.

Episode 2, "Two Photographs," revisits the paparazzi's ruthless pursuit of Princess Diana's picture. The start of the show introduces the audience to a real-life character who was responsible for capturing the infamous Sunday Mirror photograph, Italian paparazzo Mario Brenna . The photograph shows "Di" and Dodi Fayed ( Khalid Abdalla ) sharing an intimate moment aboard a yacht on the Mediterranean Sea. Although the latest season of The Crown is a dramatized account of these events , it's no secret that Brenna's successful photograph is shown to have preluded Diana's deathly car chase less than a month later. But there's so much more to the story behind "The Kiss."

Follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.

What's the Truth Behind Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed's Romance?

On July 11, 1997, Diana and her sons, Prince William ( Rufus Kampas ) and Prince Harry ( Fflyn Edwards ), were kindly invited to join Mohamed Al-Fayed ( Salim Daw ), the business owner of Hôtel Ritz Paris and Harrods department store, at his Saint Tropez villa for a summer vacation. Dodi Fayed unexpectedly joined the party aboard Al-Fayed's yacht t he Jonikal, which becomes an integral character of its own seen in the final season of The Crown . Di, Dodi, and the Princes were said to have enjoyed a splendid time aboard the yacht, and Diana and Dodi grew fond of one another during this period.

According to Netflix's Beneath The Crown: The True Story of Diana and Dodi's Last Summer , both Princess Diana and Dodi were involved with other romantic partners before they met. Diana was reportedly dating heart surgeon Hasnat Khan ( Humayun Saeed ), whom she often referred to as "Mr. Wonderful," and clearly had big plans for their future . In the summer of 1997, Dr. Khan was rumored to have broken up with the Princess because of the consistent media attention surrounding them. On the other hand, Dodi, being a successful film producer , had a reputation as a playboy and was seen dating multiple A-list women over the course of his Hollywood career, including actress Brooke Shields, before meeting model Kelly Fisher, whom he was engaged to at the time he met the Princess of Wales.

After the vacation, Diana returned home to an apartment full of roses and an $11,000 gold Cartier watch as a present from Dodi. Diana's friends believe she developed an interest in dating Dodi to make Dr. Khan jealous . Just 11 days later, the Princess returned alone to the Jonikal and embarked on a week-long trip with Al-Fayed's son. The media went crazy, with rumors spreading of a possible romance. Most of the press coverage was heavily negative, which sparked numerous amounts of controversy around the pair. Photographers rose in numbers as the couple's relationship grew truer every day. Per Beneath The Crown , it surfaced that Mohamed Al-Fayed asked renowned publicist Max Clifford to positively endorse their relationship. Photographers were then tipped off to find Diana and Dodi's location, and on August 10, Mario Brenna found them first.

How Did Mario Brenna's "The Kiss" Change Princess Diana's Life Forever?

Per The Independent , Mario Brenna was an official photographer for the Versace fashion house who lived in Monaco in 1997. Brenna happened to discover the yacht on an inflatable boat off of the Sardinian coast (He claims he spent occasional summers around the Mediterranean Sea to catch celebrities vacationing, as stated in the National Post .) He slowly approached the Jonikal when he thought he had seen a former acquaintance. To his shock, it was actually the "People's Princess" in the arms of Dodi Fayed. Captured from 500 yards away, Brenna hurriedly snapped photos of the couple "kissing" onboard and flew straight to London to show fellow celebrity photographer Jason Fraser the historic images.

Brenna recounts finding the couple that day as a “great stroke of luck." Despite the summer haze, the photograph sparked a chaotic bidding war between major publishing companies. Brenna ultimately sold "The Kiss" to the Sunday Mirror for £250,000 . The Sun and The Daily additionally paid him £100,000 each. Fraser, who helped in negotiating the deals, sold the rights internationally, which brought their earnings to over $2.1 million in global sales.

Following Brenna's phenomenon, "The Kiss" fueled an all-out paparazzi hunt for Princess Diana and Dodi's picture. Everywhere they traveled, the paparazzi hounded the couple, with no respect for their privacy. If Brenna could make a fortune out of one photo, other photographers had a chance to do the same. Diana participated in several humanitarian works following the picture, including becoming an advocate for landmine removals in developing countries. However, her efforts were regularly overlooked by her affair with Dodi. The couple also received racist backlash after "The Kiss," with most comments disapproving of Dodi's ethnicity as depicted in The Crown .

Swarms of press, even helicopters, surrounded the yacht in which Dodi and Diana often stayed. As stated in Beneath The Crown, Dodi had encouraged Diana to dabble in Hollywood acting, with talks to co-star alongside Kevin Costner in a sequel to the box-office hit The Bodyguard . These dreams would never come to fruition. On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were declared dead following a car crash through a tunnel at Place de l’Alma in Paris, France . There are countless conspiracies revolving around their deaths, but it was undeniable that their car was mercilessly tailed by a pack of paparazzi who wanted to snap the couple's picture. Mario Brenna confesses to The New York Times that he couldn't help but think "The Kiss" triggered the horrifying events that led to the death of Princess Diana: "If it hadn’t been me, someone else would certainly have captured those images."

What Does 'The Crown' Get Right and Wrong About "The Kiss"?

The Crown is no stranger to negative criticism when it comes to dramatizing the lives of the Royal Family. Aside from a few historical flaws, Episode 2, "Two Photographs", surprisingly does an adequate job of re-imagining the events that made Princess Diana one of the most photographed persons of all time. What the show changes is Prince Charles's reaction to seeing the picture in the Sunday Mirror. The episode depicts Charles hiring Scottish photographer Duncan Muir, a fictionalized character, to take pictures of him with William and Harry as a ploy to outshine the publicity from Diana's controversial photo. It is later revealed that the Scotland photoshoot dominated the front pages of The Mirror and The Daily Record, but this didn't happen.

According to Business Insider , on August 12, 1997, the young Princes and their father participated in a photo shoot at the royals' annual vacation at Balmoral. A handful of photographers snapped the photos, not one, and the images were featured only on pages eight, nine, and five of the respective newspapers. The failed Scotland pics were still overshadowed by the public's fascination with "The Kiss," and the press made rather unfavorable remarks with subheadings like: "Young princes look embarrassed by dad's Harry Lauder image."

"Two Photographs" also mixes up some facts regarding how Dodi started courting the "People's Princess." In the show, Mohamed Al-Fayed acts as a matchmaker for the couple, endlessly pressuring Dodi to flirt with the Princess in order to prove he is worthy of inheriting his father's wealth. Dodi seems stressed about making a connection with Diana during her vacation onboard the yacht as he is engaged to Kelly Fisher (a fact that is accurate). When the couple does become more intimate, The Crown implies that Al-Fayed tipped off Mario Brenna as to their whereabouts, but Brenna claimed the misconception that Al-Fayed hired him to take "The Kiss" was "absurd and completely invented."

What the final season does right in Part 1 is the portrayal of Diana and Dodi's romantic affair and the paparazzi's relentless invasion of their private lives. Di and Dodi briefly dated for a little over a month, and their relationship was always under the microscope. As shown in The Crown , the pair did develop fond feelings for one another, and a rumored engagement as well, but the press could only imagine what their true relationship entailed. History has proven that Diana was nothing but a cash grab to the paparazzi who sought her out only in hopes of making a fortune overnight. Once she and Dodi became the eye of the world, the media never respected her space, time, or family when it came to capturing "the shot." The Crown ultimately does not sugarcoat the brutal paparazzi culture that led to Princess Diana's final moments .

Per the National Post, Brenna admitted that The Crown never made an effort to contact him about the true story of how he captured "The Kiss" or his feelings following the doomed aftermath. Furthermore, he told the Times he does not agree with how he or the paparazzi are represented in the final season. "Two Photographs," despite its blemishes, urges fans to acknowledge the prestigious drama as a fictionalized chronicle and acts as a time machine to reflect on the unfortunate events that shocked the world into a bitter period of grief. If "The Kiss" was never captured, would the "People's Princess" still be here today?

The Crown is available to stream exclusively on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix

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The Crown: Five insights into the yachts featured in series six

On 16 November, the first volume of series six of The Crown was released on Netflix. Not only has it stirred up controversy regarding its depiction of recent historical events, but the series has also sparked the public's interest in the infamous yachts associated with the royal family's timeline.

The final instalment of The Crown features two ladies and two yachts, all of which are indelibly linked to Dodi Al-Fayed. It captures the simmering romance between Princess Diana and Dodi – a film producer and son of billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed – as well as Dodi's fiancée, Kelly Fisher. In the drama, the Princess of Wales is whisked away to the former Harrods owner's villa (and superyacht) in the south of France, where she enjoys a summer on the continent with sons Prince William and Prince Harry in 1997.

The series shows the group on what was Mohamed Al-Fayed's yacht, the 63.8-metre Codecasa which was known as Jonikal (later Bash, now Isabell Princess of the Seas ) . Understandably, with the People's Princess aboard, the yacht was heavily photographed by the paparazzi – leading to the creation of that iconic Princess Diana yacht photo. The camera also pans to a smaller yacht we can assume is the 20-metre Baglietto Cujo , a yacht the Al-Fayed's spent a lot of time on and which sadly sank earlier this year.

Wondering what happened to Jonikal ? If the series was filmed on the original boat? Where the set location was? BOAT answers all your yacht-related questions surrounding the latest series.

That Princess Diana yacht picture

There are many iconic images of Princess Diana – not least the shot of her in the "revenge dress" – but up there are the images of her sporting a range of low-backed swimsuits from her summer in St. Tropez. Perhaps the most memorable is Princess Diana sitting on the diving board of Jonikal. The series recreates the moment her photo was captured, legs swaying above the oscillating sea, toes pointed ballerina-esque. It also draws on her plea to the paparazzi to give her boys some privacy as she meets them mid-sea on her tender, stealing the show in her leopard-print swimsuit.

The whereabouts of Jonikal today

The yacht carries great significance knowing Dodi and Princess Diana were pictured there just weeks before their fatal car accident. It belonged to Dodi's father and, during the series, Princess Diana and Dodi are portrayed sharing intimate moments on board: her, looking up from the piano she is playing, doe-eyed; him, opening up about his engagement and the struggles with his father. There is also the scene where they have an ice cube fight between decks; the scene where Dodi's siblings and Princess Diana's children jump off the diving board; where the pair share what would've been an intimate kiss, had the photographer on his motor yacht not snapped it.

It was successful telecoms entrepreneur Bassim Haidar who later bought the yacht in 2021. The fact that it’s the former Jonikal is a source of pride for Haidar, who told BOAT : "I really loved Lady Diana. Whenever anyone comes on board I always show them where the famous picture was taken." The yacht was sold in August this year.

The yacht the series was filmed on, Titania 

The Crown was not filmed on Isabell Princess of the Seas (ex- Jonikal ), but rather on the 72-metre Lurssen superyacht Titania . The yacht, which was delivered in 2006, is owned by British businessman John Caudwell. Back in 2021, Caudwell commented on the news via his social media accounts, stating that he "cannot confirm or deny any filming secrets" but hinted that viewers should "keep your eyes peeled towards the end of season five and start of season six."

The refit in 2012 amped up her charter facilities – adding a second owner’s cabin on the upper deck, a gym on the sundeck and an extension to the stern to accommodate a beach club (which can be spotted in the series) with a full water park that floats off the stern.

The other yacht (and the other woman)

Jonikal is not the only yacht to have featured in The Crown series six, filmed in Mallorca. At one point, the camera also pans to another yacht the Al-Fayed's spent a lot of time on, the 20-metre Cujo. The drama shows Dodi's fiancée at the time, Fisher, getting escorted by tender past the yacht Dodi and Princess Diana are on ( Jonikal ), and instead shuttled away to what Fisher refers to as "the smaller yacht". 

In August this year, the real-life Cujo sunk around 35 kilometres off the coast of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France.

Other yachts featured in the series

Christina O had 122-metre shoes to fill in season five, playing Alexander – the converted cruise ship where Princess Diana and Charles celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary . Delivered in 1965 by German shipyard Lubecker Flender Werke , the superyacht hosted the royals and their sons princes William and Harry a year before the couple separated.

A replica of the Royal Yacht Britannia also starred in the fifth Netflix series. Britannia was used as Queen Elizabeth II’s royal yacht from 1954 to 1997, hosting up to 250 guests at a time while being operated by 21 officers and 250 crew from the Royal Navy. It was decommissioned as a cost-cutting measure by the UK government in 1997.

The second part of The Crown will premiere on Netflix from 14 December.

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Inside the Superyacht Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed Spent Their Final Vacation On

A look at the vessel that saw the beloved royal’s last vacation.

It was hot gossip, this adventure that the princess took abroad after having finalized her divorce from then Prince Charles less than a year before—something that was hinted at at the end of season 5 of The Crown as Queen Elizabeth is pressed to endorse a vacation a-sea with Fayed and her grandchildren, Prince Harry and Prince William. Diana was famously photographed sitting on the passerelle of this boat. Years later, in real life, Harry described the trip in his memoir, Spare , with fond recollection. “Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven,” he wrote.

While the series was filmed on a lookalike super yacht in Mallorca , the real boat was equally lavish. The 208-foot ship was commissioned by Dodi’s father, former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, who brought on naval architect Vincenzo Ruggiero to design it in the late 1980s. It was built by Italian shipyard Codecasa and launched in 1990. The steel and aluminum super yacht boasted nine staterooms that altogether accommodate up to 18 people, in addition to a crew of 26. Amenities included a Jacuzzi, swim platform, sun deck, formal dining room, a bar, and office space. Mohamed had named the yacht Jonikal (it has subsequently been called Sokar and is currently called Bash ) .

Shortly after Diana’s and Dodi’s deaths, Mohamed gave the interior a redesign by H2 Yacht Design and a refit that included extending the hull. He attempted to sell the yacht on a number of occasions, ultimately parting with it in 2014 to an anonymous buyer. The new owner carried out further work, including machinery upgrades, a repaint, and fresh teak decks. In 2021, the yacht came into the hands of Bassim Haidar , the founder of Intercomm and GMT, who gave it a further $9.7 million refit after a reported bridge deck fire—and its current name Bash . It’s now back to turn-key condition after an 18-month remodel completed in April 2023 by marine engineering and management company Capax and boat interior company Bobic Yacht Interiors . It features a beauty salon, massage area, high-tech gym, and a spacious main salon.

In May, Robb Report reported that Bash is available for charter in the Mediterranean starting at $278,000 per week, plus expenses. In June, Haidar listed Bash for $16.8 million, according to Boat International .

There was a second motor yacht named Cujo, which Diana and Fayed also took earlier that summer. It was built in Italy in 1972 for John von Neumann, who commissioned the Italian Baglietto shipyard to build the world's fastest motor yacht. She was given two 18-cylinder engines that allowed it to go as fast as 42 knots. Fayed had bought the boat from his cousin, Saudi businessman and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. In August, the Mediterranean Sea reclaimed Cujo, as the 62-foot artifact of Diana’s life hit an unidentified object off Beaulieu-sur-Mer on July 29 and sprang a leak, Vanity Fair reported. The seven people on board were rescued by teams from Antibes and safely returned to shore.

An imitation of Jonikal will feature in The Crown season 6, a set that was intended to visually illuminate the tension between Diana and the royal family. “Diana’s south of France adventure was bright and lovely pastel colors, and her world even in Kensington Palace is optimistic and warm, compared to the queen’s residence at Balmoral, which is very static, with gloomy light and drab colors,” set decorator Alison Harvey tells ELLE DECOR.

Filming on the yacht off the island of Mallorca (a St. Tropez stand-in) required many moving parts with few do-overs. “We brought in the drapes, the artwork, many furnishings,” Harvey explains. “Everything was set in the early ’90s, so we thought hard about the colors and textures that we brought in.” Harvey’s team had just half a day to dress the yacht, and then it was off to sea. “There was no getting on or off after that,” Harvey says, adding that they were “subsumed by the logistics of what we had to achieve and the time we had to do it.”

However painstaking the process, the yacht scenes will offer an intriguing context—though largely fictitious—for the iconic photographs that exist of those final weeks leading up to Diana’s death.

Rachel Silva, the Assistant Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, covers design, architecture, trends, and anything to do with haute couture. She has previously written for Time, The Wall Street Journal, and Citywire.

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• How the Real-Life Story of Mohamed and Dodi al-Fayed Compares to Their Depiction in <i>The Crown</i>

How the Real-Life Story of Mohamed and Dodi al-Fayed Compares to Their Depiction in The Crown

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Crown.

Princess Diana is the undeniable star of Season 5 of the The Crown . Played by Elizabeth Debicki, the people’s princess takes center stage in the latest season of the Netflix series as she divorces Charles and establishes a new life on her own terms. We follow her romance with Dr. Hasnat Khan (Humayun Saeed) and get hints of a future fling with Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla), the man who eventually died alongside Diana and their driver Henri Paul in a tragic car crash on Aug. 31, 1997.

An entire episode of the show is dedicated to Dodi and his father, Mohamed al-Fayed (Aamir El-Masry, and then Salim Daw), the billionaire who longed to enter the inner circle of the British upper class. Mohamed and Diana became fast friends, and the show suggests they bonded over their outsider status. The series outlines how al-Fayed’s means could offer Diana the protection she required—from private bodyguards and yachts and villas to luxe vacations— after her divorcée status banished her from royal circles. Mohamed also seemed eager for Dodi and Diana to connect: Dodi was reportedly engaged to someone else when his father invited him on vacation with Diana and her sons, William and Harry.

Here’s everything you need to know about Dodi and his father.

Read More: How A Sprawling Drama About Elizabeth II Became Netflix’s Crown Jewel

Who was Mohamed al-Fayed?

The Egyptian billionaire was a fixture of the London upper-class long before he ever met Princess Diana. His background is a bit of a mystery. He was born in Alexandria, but his birth date is disputed , according to the BBC. And while he once claimed to the press that he hailed from a long line of wealthy cotton growers, he later said his father was a teacher , according to The Independent .

In 1954, he married Samira Khashoggi, the sister of a Saudi Arabian arms dealer named Adnan Khashoggi. Before the couple divorced, they had one child together, Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena’em Fayed, otherwise known as Dodi. Dodi attended prestigious schools like Sandhurst military academy in the U.K. where Prince William and Prince Harry would eventually go to school.

Mohamed al-Fayed ran a shipping business, advised the Sultan of Brunei, and briefly worked for a mining conglomerate before moving to England in the 1970s.

Read More: The True Story Behind Charles, Diana, and Camilla’s Love Triangle

How did Mohamad al-Fayed come to own the Ritz in Paris and Harrods in London?

In 1979, Mohamad bought the famous Ritz hotel in Paris, and in 1985, he added the iconic London department store Harrods to his holdings. That same year, he married Finnish model Heini Wathen. They had four children together.

The purchase of Harrods was just the first of many that al-Fayed hoped would help buy his way into British high society. The store stood for Britishness itself, and al-Fayed would continue to snap up buildings and institutions with similar symbolic heft. He later acquired Punch Magazine, the Fulham soccer team, and finally the Parisian villa that had once belonged to the former King Edward VIII and his wife, Wallis Simpson, after Edward abdicated the throne. No doubt al-Fayed hoped to catch the eye of the Queen by restoring her uncle’s home to its former glory.

If al-Fayed hoped these purchases would enchant the royals, he misjudged the Queen and her inner circle. The British upper-crust kept him at a distance, and he found himself more of an outsider than ever. The sale of Harrods, in particular, stirred up animosity in England. A competitor for the store claimed that al-Fayed lied about his income to seal the deal. Al-Fayed denied the claims but became embroiled in investigations and lawsuits. The scandal ensnared Prime Minister John Major’s government when al-Fayed paid two senior Conservative politicians to ask questions in Parliament on behalf of Harrod’s—a move that was not technically illegal, but definitely questionable.

There was, no doubt, some bigotry at play in the press’ assessment of al-Fayed as a desperate social climber who couldn’t quite grasp the elusive rules by which the upper class live. Al-Fayed applied to become a British citizen twice, and both times he was denied. Later in life, al-Fayed would call Prince Philip a “racist.”

Who was Dodi al-Fayed?

Dodi al-Fayed was best known as a partier. In The Crown , he romances a girlfriend on a private jet outfitted with a bed and plenty of cocaine. In real life, before he met Diana, he was photographed in the tabloids with actors like Brooke Shields, Julia Roberts, and Winona Ryder, though sources close to him told The Guardian that he may not have actually dated these women. He hired a powerful publicist to make sure he was photographed on dates with celebrities.

In 1986, he married the model Suzanne Gregard, but they divorced eight months later. On The Crown, Dodi is depicted as desperate for his father’s approval. He wants to show off his wealth, especially to the women in his life, but resents having to ask his father to fund his lavish lifestyle.

How was the family involved in Chariots of Fire ?

Dodi also had a passion for film. With his family’s money, he helped produce Chariots of Fire , a British historical drama about Olympic runners. According to Tina Brown’s biography of Diana, The Diana Chronicles , Dodi was eventually thrown off set by the director for giving cocaine to the actors. Still, the movie went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars in 1981. On The Crown , Mohamed stays up late into the night to see if Chariots will win—and if his name will be mentioned during the acceptance speech.

How did Diana meet Mohamed and Dodi?

It’s not clear when Diana first encountered Dodi, but it may have been at a 1986 polo match in Windsor. Diana’s then-husband Charles and Dodi played on opposite teams.

The Crown depicts Diana meeting Mohamed for the first time at such a match. Mohamed has sponsored the event, which he believes will earn him the right to sit next to the Queen. The Queen avoids him and instead deploys her daughter-in-law Diana to entertain the billionaire. Diana and Mohamed immediately start joking about how the Queen has rejected them both. Diana briefly smiles at Dodi, but they do not yet have a conversation.

Though it is not depicted on Season 5 of The Crown , Diana and Dodi’s first real meeting was on Dodi’s father’s yacht. Brown writes that Diana had initially hoped to spend the summer of 1997 in the Hamptons but was told by her security it was not safe. Mohamed al-Fayed invited her to bring Will and Harry to his villa in the South of France where they could rely on his private security.

Diana was also going through a breakup with the heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who had become overwhelmed by her celebrity. So she was in a particularly emotionally vulnerable place when she met Dodi three days into her trip to France.

Al-Fayed summoned Dodi to the yacht, though his son was reportedly engaged to model Kelly Fisher at the time. On the trip, the two grew close. No doubt, Season 6 will cover Diana and Dodi’s meeting and romance, as well as their tragic demise.

How long did Diana and Dodi date?

It was a whirlwind romance. The two had only been dating for a few months when they died in the car crash.

What has Mohamed al-Fayed said about Diana and Dodi’s death?

Al-Fayed long insisted that the car crash in which Diana and Dodi died was not an accident. He hired investigators and appealed the findings of the official French investigation into the crash multiple times.

Al-Fayed suggested the British royal family might have somehow been involved because they wanted to cover up the fact that Diana and Dodi were pregnant and planned to marry. Meanwhile, people close to Diana have consistently denied that Diana was expecting or that she planned to marry Dodi. Brown writes that sources close to Diana told her the princess “had no intention of marrying Dodi Fayed but had a dalliance with him merely to annoy Charles and the Royal Family”.

Still, in November 2008, Fayed read written testimony before the Royal Courts of Justice. “She told me that she knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her,” he said, according to the New York Times. “They cleared the decks. They murdered her.”

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'The Crown' Season 6 fact check: Did Dodi Fayed really propose to Princess Diana?

What really happened here?

"The Crown," which has been telling the long story of Queen Elizabeth II's reign since 2016, is a dramatic and fictional interpretation of history. It's full of invention and supposition , the educated guesses of creator Peter Morgan about what happened in the private lives of the British royal family for over half a century. But it leaves viewers dying to know what really happened behind the palace walls.

In fact, watching Part 1 of Netflix's final season (now streaming) might leave you with a bevy of questions. Four new episodes, set in 1997 in the weeks leading up to the death of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), zoom in on the private life of the People's Princess after her divorce from Prince Charles (Dominic West). They focus primarily on her relationship with Harrods heir Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla), who died with her in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.

But what part of the story "The Crown" tells actually happened? Did Dodi really propose to Diana on the day of the crash? Did Dodi's father Mohamed (Salim Daw) really push them together and call the paparazzi on them? And did Diana's death really bring the world to a standstill?

'The Crown' fact check: How did Will and Kate meet? Did the queen want to abdicate throne?

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

To separate fact from fiction, USA TOAY spoke with Hugo Vickers, the historian and biographer who has literally written the book on the royals, as well as Debicki and Abdalla, who explain how they researched the love affair they portrayed.

Did Dodi Fayed really leave his fiancée just before their wedding because of Diana?

When Diana and Dodi began their initial relationship, he was engaged to American model Kelly Fisher (Erin Richards). He broke off their engagement to pursue Diana, and it had major consequences, as the show portrays. "She tried to sue him," Vickers says. It generated "a lot of publicity." But "she dropped the case when he was killed."

Was Charles secretly campaigning for Camilla’s legitimacy while Diana was still alive?

The first episode of the new season shows Charles working hard to get positive press coverage of his long love Camilla Parker Bowles (Olivia Williams). He also tries to convince his mother, Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton), to legitimize Camilla as his partner by attending her birthday party, which Elizabeth refuses to do. Vickers says Charles was "definitely trying to put Camilla on the map" and increase her popularity in the country. However, "the so-called campaign was somewhat put on hold after Diana’s death."

Did Mohamed Al-Fayed really summon the paparazzi to take the infamous photos of Dodi and Diana kissing?

It's hard to know exactly how photographer Mario Brenna learned that Diana and Dodi were vacationing together on the Fayeds' yacht in Monte Carlo when he took the infamous photos of them kissing, embracing and sunbathing. Vickers can only surmise, based on the behavior of Mohamed Al-Fayed at the time, that he might have. "He certainly did similar things. Hard to know the exact details. But he was using Diana, no question of that."

The photos led to a bidding war, and the international sensation the show portrays. It was "massive," says Vickers. A 10-page spread of photos was published in the Sunday Mirror on Aug. 10. Brenna and his partner made more than $2 million from them.

Did Charles scheme with his publicist to do a ‘counter photo’ with the boys?

There were photos of Prince Charles, Prince WIlliam (Rufus Kampa) and Prince Harry (Fflyn Edwards) taken at Balmoral in August 1997, but they didn't happen exactly as the show portrays. "Tim Graham, a well known photographer, took those photos on Aug. 16," Vickers says, and not the small-time Scottish photographer the series invents. The photos also weren't quite as out-of-character for either Charles' family or other royals when they were at Balmoral, as the show portrays. The royals routinely had planned photo shoots at the estate while on vacation, and still do.

Read our review of Season 6: Death, duty and Diana rule ‘The Crown’ in a bleak Part 1 of its final season

The show implies Dodi had spurious motives courting Diana, egged on by his father. How much do we know about that?

Mohamed Fayed bought the yacht Jonikal especially to entertain Diana, Vickers says. "The motives were rather as shown: ensnaring Diana." It's impossible to know Dodi's personal motives or feelings.

Abdalla and Debicki say they studied hundreds of photographs and hours of surveillance footage of Dodi and Diana on the day of the crash. They watched it all, "second by second, minute by minute," Abdalla says. "You see this incredibly tender hand hold behind their backs and their heads nuzzled against each other and very gentle caressing, for seven minutes. And from that you understand the tenderness of a certain kind of falling in love."

Did Dodi propose to Diana in Paris on the day of the crash?

In the series, Dodi makes Diana stop in Paris (on the trip where they would soon die) to buy an engagement ring he thinks she wants. He then proposes to her, but she says no.

"It is said he bought a ring," Vickers says, but "she was not going to marry him." A 1998 book by Time magazine correspondents Tom Sancton and Scott MacLeod about Diana's death suggests that Dodi planned to propose . At an inquest in 2007, evidence was presented that Dodi went to the Repossi shop on the Place Vendôme in Paris on Aug. 30 and purchased a diamond ring.

All you need to know: 'The Crown' Season 6: Release date, cast, trailer, how to watch Part 1 of new season

In 'The Crown,' Diana and Dodi’s driver has several drinks in the hours leading up to the crash. Is that true?

"He did," Vickers says. Investigations into the crash found that their driver, Henri Paul (Yoann Blanc), who also died in the crash, had two drinks at the Ritz hotel, where the couple was hanging out just before the crash.

Here Are The Real Photos Of Diana On Vacation That Inspired Those Scenes In The Crown

The Princess of Wales did indeed have a little chat with paparazzi on a boat.

The sixth and final season of The Crown got off to an emotional start by depicting Princess Diana’s final weeks before her death in August 1997. At the time, Princess Diana was newly dating Dodi Fayed, son of Harrod’s owner Mohamed Al-Fayed and famously spent time on Al-Fayed’s yacht in the south of France that summer with 12-year-old Prince Harry and 15-year-old Prince William. She was being constantly followed by the paparazzi, and is seen confronting photographers in The Crown in an effort to get them to leave her sons alone so they could enjoy their holiday. Which, according to photos taken of the princess at the time, appears to be at least somewhat based on a real event.

Season 6, Part 1 of The Crown saw Princess Diana (played by Elizabeth Debicki) vacationing off the coast of Saint-Tropez with her sons, Prince Harry and Prince William (played by Fflyn Edwards and Rufus Kampa, respectively), on Al-Fayed’s yacht. If The Crown is to be believed, Prince William in particular was struggling to have a good time on his holiday because of the constant presence of the paparazzi. And so, Princess Diana decided to throw on a swimsuit and jet over to the photographers to pose for some shots in an effort to get them to leave.

The Crown’s version...

“Enjoying your holiday?” a member of the paparazzi asks Princess Diana in The Crown when she is seen approaching them on a boat, and she replies. “Yes, we’re having a lovely time, apart from one little thing, you lot. Seriously, how long are we going to have the pleasure of your company? The attention is starting to freak out the boys.”

She offered the paparazzi a “surprise” if they would leave her sons alone as they snapped photos of her. And while we don’t know if the real Princess Diana offered them a surprise, she absolutely did confront them that summer.

How it looked in real life...

A year after Princess Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris, journalist and biographer Sally Bedell Smith wrote about the royal’s relationship with the paparazzi for Vanity Fair — in particular, that fateful summer in the south of France. “On a holiday in July 1997 with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and his family in Saint-Tropez,” Bedell Smith wrote at the time, “she first eluded paparazzi by crawling along a balcony and hiding behind a towel, then surprised a contingent of British tabloid reporters and photographers ... by addressing them from her motorboat in a fetching leopard-print bathing suit. ‘You will have a big surprise coming soon, the next thing I do,’ she teased, and implied that she was thinking of living abroad.”

This wasn’t the only moment that the Netflix series recreated from Princess Diana’s holiday that last summer. Princess Diana was also seen in a super colorful swim suit, hanging out on the beach with her sons. A scene The Crown pulled off perfectly.

In real life, most of the photos from that moment were taken with Princess Diana spending time with her sons on the yacht, even wrapping her son Prince Harry up in a big hug while wearing the iconic swimsuit.

Princess Diana was also photographed sitting on the diving board of Al-Fayed’s yacht, all alone in a bright blue bathing suit. Looking, some might say, quite lonely.

Like the series showed, Princess Diana in 1997 was also seen wearing a bright blue one-piece swimsuit, staring off into space.

While The Crown has certainly done an impeccable job of recreating real-life photos of moments from the lives of royals, it’s important to remember that these are dramatized and fictionalized versions of real events. No matter how spot-on they might look to us.

This article was originally published on November 20, 2023

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The Crown: Who Really Hired That Paparazzo to Take Photos of Diana and Dodi?

By Chris Murphy

A picture really is worth a thousand words. On a new episode of Still Watching, cohosts Hillary Busis, Richard Lawson, and Chris Murphy break down episode two of season six part one of The Crown, “Two Photographs,” with VF staff writer and royals expert Erin Vanderhoof.  

A true anglophile, Vanderhoof distinguishes fact from fiction on the second episode of The Crown season six, which focuses on photographs taken of Diana and Charles by two very different types of photographers. One choice that really surprised Vanderhoof was The Crown ’s insinuation that Mohamed Al-Fayed ( Salim Daw ) orchestrated famed paparazzo Mario Brenna ’s iconic photo of Princess Diana ( Elizabeth Debicki ) and Dodi Fayed ( Khalid Abdalla ) embracing on the yacht, one of a set of images that drove tabloids crazy. 

“There’s a lot of debate about who put Mario Brenna up to that,” says Vanderhoof, before sharing former Vanity Fair editor in chief and The Diana Chronicles author Tina Brown ’s theory: that it was Diana herself who called Brenna to get the shot. “She wanted to make her other ex-boyfriend, Hasnat Khan jealous,” says Vanderhoof. “There’s a lot of debate about whether it was somebody close to Dodi, somebody close to Diana. It’s one of those things that cannot really be definitively proven.”

Vanderhoof also shared what happened to Mohamed Al-Fayed in the years following Dodi and Diana’s death. “We know from real life that he was crushed by the death of his son,” Vanderhoof says. “His entire life was sort of formed around it. He became, like, the biggest proponent of all the conspiracy theories. Like, it really, really crushed him.” She also shed some light on the relationship between the royals and their royal photographers, sharing a story about her own experience following Prince William on a press boat. 

“When you turn [in a boat], your orientation relative to William changes, and so then all the photographers go running to the other side of the boat,” says Vanderhoof. “All the reporters have to then run to the other side of the boat so we don’t tip over. We’re doing cardio.”

For more on Diana, Charles, and the paparazzi you can listen to the full breakdown of “Two Photographs” below. And as always, send questions and comments and musings about The Crown season six part one to Still Watching at [email protected] .

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You can now stay in the spectacular Mediterranean villa featured in The Crown

The lavish Mallorcan pad stood in for Mohamed Al-Fayed’s South of France home in the series premiere

Incidentally, the princess reportedly spent some of her childhood summers at the Yellow Castle , and later returned to Mallorca with Prince Charles. The luxurious residence is one of the most expensive on the island and fortunately for fans, it’s not just the preserve of royalty – it’s now available to book on Airbnb .

The regal retreat, priced at around £7,440 per night, is on a rocky peninsula near Puerto d'Andratx, perfectly positioned for incoming super-yachts. As befits a property fit for a princess, the acreage is immaculate, with statuary around the pool, sea views and lush gardens, plus a shaded terrace for lounging and dining, and a hot tub.

The bright yellow mansion sleeps up to 12 guests across seven bedrooms, and has a cave in the rocks where guests can enjoy spa treatments. It’s within an easy drive of the shops and restaurants along the port, and just 20 minutes by car from the island’s capital, Palma.

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed visited Mohamed Al-Fayed’s villa during the summer of 1997 – the famous images of them on a yacht were taken along the French Riviera coast near the home.

If you’re in search of royal-worthy holiday homes in St Tropez , we've done the digging to bring you some opulent retreats, all of which have Airbnb’s ‘Guest Favourite’ badges, which means they are among the most loved properties available to book on the site...

A villa in Gassin

This four-bedroom villa in the commune of Gassin, just outside St Tropez, is a great choice for digital nomads looking to work from the South of France, since it has especially speedy WiFi. During high season, a nearby five-star hotel can help with the catering, or guests can book the services of a private chef. The house also has an especially dreamy sea-facing terrace and open-air living-room.

A four-bedroom retreat in Ramatuelle

In the sleepy Var village of Ramatuelle, this villa is on a hilltop overlooking Plage de Pampelonne and the surrounding vineyards. The peaceful plot is covered in pine-trees, and is a quiet, natural setting, but one that's conveniently close to all the buzz of St Tropez for when you need it.

Villa Carpe Diem in Grimaud

The mediaeval village of Grimaud is on a hilltop a short drive outside of St Tropez and is one of those destinations that frequently contributes to Francophile reveries of the Riviera. Up to 11 lucky guests can sleep in this five-bedroom stay, which has views of the Med and the surrounding mountains that are best enjoyed from the terrace that opens out from the living-room.

A sleek modern stay in St Maxime

Perfect for a party of eight, this South of France villa is just 300 metres from St Maxime beach. Highlights include the swimming pool, home cinema and the outdoor space, which features a shaded dining area, a summer kitchen with a bar and plancha grill, and an alfresco lounge where you can watch the yachts arriving in the Gulf of St Tropez.

Pool perfection in St Maxime

Also along the coast from St Tropez in St Maxime, this villa has impressive views of the bay and a terrace with a pool for long, lazy summer days. It has space for up to 10 guests, in four bedrooms, two of which have an ensuite bathroom with a bath tub. The house is an hour's drive from Cannes and just a couple of kilometres from the centre of St Maxime.

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‘The Crown’: The Story of Mohamed Al-Fayed and His Valet

In the latest season, we meet the Egyptian businessman, his son, Dodi, and Sydney Johnson, his personal servant — all with connections to the royal family.

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By Roslyn Sulcas

LONDON — It’s 1946 in a dusty square in Alexandria, Egypt. Teenagers play a boisterous football match, and one of the players looks on curiously as the former King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, now the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, arrive at the nearby British consulate, their car door opened by an immaculately dressed young Black man.

“I want to match them, I want to be like them, have power like them,” the boy later tells his siblings, after their father has excoriated the British for their occupation of Egypt.

This is the opening of Episode 3 of the latest season of “The Crown.” We see that boy grow up to become the businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, whose son, Dodi, was for a while a household name in Britain after he and Diana, Princess of Wales, died together in a car crash in August 1997.

The episode charts the rise of Mohamed, who would always long to be part of the British establishment, against the story of Sydney Johnson, the Bahamian valet to the Windsors, who Mohamed saw in the square and would later employ himself.

The episode is a characteristic twist in the show’s focus on the ongoing story of the royals, as the “Crown” creator Peter Morgan again finds prisms through which the monarchy can be understood in the context of British social history.

In the official podcast of “The Crown ,” Morgan said that he had found Al-Fayed a fascinating character, but that it would have been difficult to tell his story in the series if there hadn’t been a strong intersection with the royal family. “When I found out that the guy who had been the personal valet to Edward had been the valet to Al-Fayed, the story just fell into my lap,” Morgan said.

So, who were the Al-Fayeds? Was the elder Al-Fayed really obsessed with the royals? How did he and his son meet Diana? Here is a guide to who’s who and what’s what.

Who is Mohamed Al-Fayed, and how did he make his money?

Mohamed Fayed (he added the “Al” prefix in the 1970s), or Mou Mou to his friends, grew up in Alexandria, the son of a school inspector. He sold Coca-Cola on the street and sewing machines door to door, before beginning to work as a furniture salesman for Adnan Khashoggi , the future billionaire arms dealer.

In 1954, he married Khashoggi’s sister, Samira, and a year later she gave birth to Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena’em Fayed, who became known as Dodi. The marriage only lasted two years, and custody of Dodi was given to his father, who sent Dodi to boarding school in Switzerland, and then Sandhurst in Britain. Al-Fayed, initially bankrolled by Khashoggi, began to make his fortune in Europe, mostly as a middleman for the ruling family of Dubai, and in shipping.

He moved to Britain in the 1970s, and bought the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1979, as “The Crown” depicts. In 1985, he bought the landmark London department store Harrods, and in 1997, Fulham Football Club, as well as several British residences.

In 1986 he took a 50-year lease on the home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, and spent a reputed $14 million on restoring the home to its previous splendor. Now around 93 (there is some debate about the year of his birth), Al-Fayed has sold both Harrods and the Fulham Football club, but still owns the Ritz.

Did Mohamed Al-Fayed desperately want to be accepted by the royals?

It seems clear from Al-Fayed’s actions throughout his life that he had a deep desire to be accepted in social circles he perceived as established, and establishment. In the “Crown” podcast, Morgan says “it’s worth seeing him as a character in the light of his own background, contextualizing: where did he come from? What is his relationship to Britain?”

Al-Fayed grew up with British institutions, the British army and class system occupying positions of power all around him, Morgan points out: “For him, the idea of being accepted in any shape or form within those circles would have been such recognition of where he got to, more than money in the bank.”

The Al-Fayeds were usually cast as outsiders and social climbers by the British press , said Arianne Chernock, a professor of modern British history and a specialist in the monarchy at Boston University, although “the show portrayed them more sympathetically, suggesting how proximity to the monarchy meant acceptance for them.”

Was Dodi Al-Fayed a film producer?

One of the episode’s most surprising moments is when it turns out the film Dodi has convinced his father to finance is the award-winning “Chariots of Fire,” the 1981 sports drama directed by Hugh Hudson. When “The Crown” depicts the film winning a best picture Oscar, we hear the producer David Puttnam thank the Al-Fayeds “for putting their money where my mouth was,” and the elder Al-Fayed, watching with Johnson, dances with glee.

The Al-Fayeds created a production company, Allied Stars, in the late 1970s, and “Chariots of Fire” was Dodi’s biggest success, although the company was also involved in producing the action thriller film “F/X,” Steven Spielberg’s “Hook” and “The Scarlet Letter,” starring Demi Moore.

How did Dodi and Diana meet?

At the end of the episode we see a fictional meeting between Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Al-Fayed (Salim Daw) at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, when the queen avoids sitting next to him by dispatching Diana in her place. (In reality, they probably met at Harrods, or possibly through Diana’s father and stepmother, with whom he was friendly.) In the episode, Al-Fayed and Diana get on famously, and although Dodi comes over to say hello, little is made of any connection between him and the princess.

This probably reflects the pair’s real first meeting, in the mid-1980s by various accounts, at a polo match in which Prince Charles was also playing. Later in the season, we see the elder Al-Fayed invite Diana to bring Princes William and Harry with her on holiday to his villa in St. Tropez. The scene is set for next season’s meeting, and Dodi and Diana’s fateful end.

Who was Sydney Johnson, the Duke of Windsor and Al-Fayed’s valet?

Sydney Johnson was born in the Bahamas, and started working for the Duke of Windsor when he was 16, when the duke was governor of the islands during World War II.

The duke then took Johnson into his household service when he and the Duchess of Windsor moved to Paris. Johnson spent more than 30 years working for the couple, up until soon after the duke’s death in Paris in 1972. (Reports vary about the reasons for his departure, but some say that the duchess was not sympathetic to his request for more time with his own family.)

Little is known about Johnson’s life in the years after he left the Windsor household, but he did work at the Ritz and was taken on by Al-Fayed, in his nearby residence on the Champs-Élysées, in the late 1970s. He encouraged Al-Fayed to take on the lease of the duke’s Paris residence, and advised the businessman on how to authentically restore the house.

Johnson died in Paris in January 1990. Al-Fayed was quoted in his wire agency obit, saying that Johnson “was truly a gentlemen’s gentleman. We shall miss him very much.”

What does a valet do, exactly?

When Al-Fayed (Daw) first talks to Sydney Johnson (Jude Akuwudike), he asks him what he did for the duke. Johnson replies simply: “Everything. I took care of every aspect of his life from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning to the moment he closed them at night.”

What’s fascinating about valets, said Jennifer Purcell, a professor of modern British history at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, is “they have intimate access and knowledge that other people in the household may not have. They become invisible. Sydney Johnson can operate in the shadows and really hear what’s going on. It’s an intimacy that is both desired and feared.”

Purcell added that for Al-Fayed, knowing the details of aristocratic and royal life through Johnson would have been “a ticket into those spaces.”

Was it unusual for a person of color to be employed in a royal household at that time?

Yes. The royal household “actively worked to keep out staff of color” from the 1940s to the 1970s, said Radhika Natarajan, a historian of 20th-century Britain at Reed College in Portland, Ore., referring to 2021 reports in The Guardian newspaper, which included documents showing that until the late 1960s, people of color were banned from serving in clerical roles in the royal household‌.

“The royal family has a long and complicated relationship to outsiders,” Chernock said. “Queen Victoria brought members of the empire into her family and her household, so there is a larger tradition. But it was possible to entertain both possibilities: that you could welcome certain nonwhite, colonial people into your household, and also maintain a firm belief in white British superiority and Empire.”

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The Crown: Who is Mohamed Al-Fayed and did he really buy Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson’s home?

Mohamed al-fayed was the father of dodi fayed, article bookmarked.

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The third episode of season five of The Crown is unlike the others. The focus of the episode is taken away from the royal family and instead, placed on Mohamed Al-Fayed .

Al-Fayed was the father of Dodi Fayed, the film producer who died alongside Diana, Princess of Wales in that fateful Paris car crash in 1997.

The billionaire businessman is also known for owning the Hôtel Ritz Paris, and formerly Harrods and Fulham FC.

But who was Mohamed Al-Fayed and what connection does he have to the royal family?

Who is Mohamed Al-Fayed?

Mohamed Al-Fayed, 93, was a sometimes controversial self-made billionaire businessman who was born in Egypt in 1929.

• The Crown season five review: Part Tatler gossip column, part family psychodrama, this show is the definition of first world problems
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He was the eldest son of a primary school teacher and has four siblings. Along with his brothers, he founded a shipping company in Egypt which subsequently moved its headquarters to Genoa in Italy.

He moved to London in the Sixties, before he met the former ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum who enlisted Al-Fayed to help build up the Emirati city. Al-Fayed introduced serval British companies to the city and also became a financial advisor to the Sultan of Brunei Omar Ali Saifuddien III, in 1966.

Al-Fayed bought The Ritz hotel in Paris in 1979, and Harrods in London in 1984, but he sold the latter to Qatar Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, in 2010. He was also the owner of Fulham FC between 1997 to 2013.

Al-Fayed fathered five children. His eldest son was Dodi Fayed who he shared with first wife, Saudi Arabian journalist Samira Khashoggi.

He also shared four children with second wife, Heini Al-Fayed: Camilla, Omar, Jasmine and Karim.

How is Mohamed Al-Fayed portrayed in The Crown?

In the opening scenes of episode three, a young Al-Fayed is shown in Egypt being fascinated by the visit of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson .

Later, he is shown buying The Ritz and asks his son, Dodi (played by Khalid Abdalla), to dismiss a Black server. Later discovering this server, Sydney Johnson (played by Jude Akuwudike), was the Duke of Windsor’s former personal valet for 30 years, Al-Fayed hires Johnson as his own valet to teach him the ways of the royal family.

Al-Fayed (played by Salim Daw) is depicted in the fictional series as being enamoured with the royal family, the show suggesting that Al-Fayed even bought Harrods just so he could meet the Queen Elizabeth II. In the episode, Al-Fayed is shown to be snubbed by the Queen, only to be introduced to Diana, Princess of Wales who he forms a friendship with.

Later in the series, Diana reveals that Al-Fayed had invited her and her sons, William and Harry to vacation with her in the south of France in the summer of 1997.

In reality, Diana did take her sons to vacation with the Fayeds that summer, which is where she met Dodi and formed a romantic connection with him. Dodi died alongside Diana when her car crashed in Paris in August 1997.

Did Mohamed Al-Fayed really buy Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson’s French home?

Elsewhere in the third episode of season five of The Crown , Al-Fayed is shown buying the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s French home, Le Bois, in Bois de Boulogne, after Wallis Simpson died in 1986.

In reality, Al-Fayed did take out a 50-year lease on the 14-room, 19th century villa with the intention to turn it into a museum dedicated to the former King and his wife.

Al-Fayed, who met the Windsors just once, told the New York Times at the time of Edward VIII’s and Simpson’s relationship: “It was the romance of the century. Here was a great king of a great empire, saying goodbye to it all for a beloved woman. And I had the chance to preserve the house where he lived and all these objects. They’re the heritage of Britain, which is my second home.”

After completing a $12 million (£10.4 million) restoration on the renamed “Villa Windsor” in 1990, Al-Fayed told People : “It’s like a mausoleum. It sometimes gives you the creeps—both of them having died here. But it’s still a happy place, a great fantasy which I love to live in.”

Al-Fayed still owns Villa Windsor but it is not open to the public.

Who was Sydney Johnson?

Another major player in episode three of season five of The Crown was Sydney Johnson, the former valet of Edward VIII who became Al-Fayed’s personal valet in his later life.

Johnson first appeared in The Crown in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene in season three, but season five showed just how much of an asset he was to Al-Fayed.

Johnson was born in the Bahamas and worked for the Duke of Windsor for 32 years after being hired at the age of 16. Johnson worked with Edwards VIII until the royal’s death in 1972 and resigned from his post in 1973 after his own wife’s death. According to a report from People this was because Wallis Simpson wouldn’t let him leave work after his wife’s passing to take care of his kids.

Johnson was soon hired by Al-Fayed as his own personal valet. In 1986 Al-Fayed said after purchasing Villa Windsor: “Sydney is a dictionary. He’s a very cultured man. He got all these things out of boxes and safes and storage rooms, and he knows their history.”

Johnson died in 1990, aged 69. At the time of his death, Al-Fayed said: “[He] was truly a gentleman’s gentleman. We shall miss him very much.”

Did Mohamed Al-Fayed ever meet the Queen?

In The Crown , Al-Fayed is seen trying to meet the Queen but to no avail. In real life he did meet Her Majesty, and was pictured with the monarch several times at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

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Who was to blame for Diana’s death? ‘The Crown’ vs. the historical record.

LONDON — The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, looms large in the latest — and last — season of “ The Crown ,” with the initial tranche of episodes depicting the weeks leading up to her car crash in Paris.

The Netflix series emphasizes how she was dangerously hounded by the paparazzi. It also suggests that the circumstances on that fateful August night in 1997 were at least partly the creation of her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed , and his father, Mohamed al-Fayed, an Egyptian billionaire who owned the Harrods department store in London.

But how does all that align with what’s actually known about responsibility for the accident that killed the 36-year-old princess, her boyfriend and their driver — prompting convulsions of grief around the world?

‘The Crown’ Season 6 review

Kelly Swaby, a historian at the University of Manchester, said she was glad “The Crown” didn’t “give rise to conspiracy theories — that was a fear of mine.” But some of its emphasis, she said, undermined historical fact.

French and British authorities conducted extensive investigations into Diana’s death. Here’s what they found — and how it compares to portrayals in “The Crown.”

The responsibility of the driver

Henri Paul, 41, was the deputy head of security for the Ritz hotel in Paris and the man behind the wheel of the Mercedes S280 that crashed into the 13th pillar in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. He died at the scene.

In “The Crown,” Paul is briefly shown at the bar of the Ritz. He is told “plans have changed” and that “Mr. Dodi needs you to drive.” He is tasked with taking the couple from the Ritz, which was owned by the Fayed family, to Dodi Fayed’s Paris apartment. When Paul gets up to leave the bar, the camera flicks to an empty cut-crystal glass and another that is half full.

“One slight pan angle to glasses on a bar doesn’t sufficiently show this is one of the most significant causes of her death,” Swaby said.

King Charles III wants to look ahead. ‘The Crown’ drags him back.

Paul had been off that night, leaving work around 7 p.m., and coming back around 10 p.m., when the couple unexpectedly decided to return to the Ritz for dinner. While they ate, Ritz bar receipts show Paul ordered two Ricards — anise liqueur with 45 percent alcohol content. He may not have known at that point that he would be enlisted to drive, and when he was, those who knew him told investigators, he may not have felt he was in a position to refuse.

Toxicological tests found Paul’s blood alcohol level to be about 3.5 times the legal limit in France. The tests also detected the presence of prescription drugs that can adversely interact with alcohol.

At the time of the crash, Paul had also been driving fast. A vehicle manufacturer carried out crash tests and concluded that the car was traveling at approximately 65 miles per hour, more than twice the speed limit.

In 1999, French investigating judges assigned sole responsibility to the driver, saying the combined influence of alcohol and medication “prevented him from keeping control of his vehicle when he was driving at high speed.”

John Stevens, the former head of the London Metropolitan Police and the lead on the force’s three-year investigation into her death, told LBC Radio last year that if Diana had police protection, “this would not have happened.” He said that police officers wouldn’t have let the couple get into the car, and if they had, they would have demanded seat belts.

The responsibility of the paparazzi

Parasitic paparazzi are a central theme of the sixth season of “The Crown.” The show depicts several dangerous encounters between photographers and the princess, and it shows people on motorcycles following her into the tunnel where she crashed.

The real-life Prince Harry is among those who hold the paparazzi responsible for his mother’s death. In his memoir, “ Spare ,” he writes that he had a driver take him through the tunnel at 65 miles an hour to experience it for himself — and concluded there was nothing inherently treacherous about it that should have led to a fatal crash, even with a drunk driver. “Unless paps had chased and blinded him,” Harry writes of the paparazzi. “Why were those paps not more roundly blamed? Why were they not in jail?”

Prince Harry memoir attacks a family he seeks to change. They have no comment.

After the accident, nine photographers and a photo agency motorcyclist were detained for questioning as witnesses and suspects. French officials later launched an investigation into whether the paparazzi contributed to the crash — and then failed to help the victims. But in 1999, a French state prosecutor and a pair of investigating judges determined there was no evidence to support criminal charges.

Judge Hervé Stéphan wrote : “It has to be said that some of the persons charged did indeed get to the tunnel very quickly, just after the accident had taken place, and that it appears that contrary to some of their statements, they did try to catch the Mercedes up, despite its speed. However, that excessive speed was not the consequence of criminally culpable behavior on the part of the photographers, but a result of the decision taken by the driver of the vehicle.”

While ruling out a breach of criminal law, the judges noted that the accident took place in the context of paparazzi behavior that raised moral and ethical questions.

A separate coroner’s inquest in Britain concluded in 2008 that Diana and Fayed had been unlawfully killed as a result of actions by both the driver and the paparazzi. But British courts had no jurisdiction over the events in France. The photographers could not be compelled to testify in that proceeding, and no charges could result from its findings.

Several countries, including Britain and the United States, have changed their paparazzi conduct laws since Diana’s death.

The responsibility of Dodi Fayed and his father

Why was Diana in Paris? Why did she go out that night? Why were the paparazzi in such hot pursuit? “The Crown” suggests that Dodi Fayed and his father, Mohamed al-Fayed, were largely responsible for that constellation of events.

The series portrays Dodi Fayed deploying a ruse to get her to Paris as part of his courtship efforts, when she really wanted to go home. It shows him repeatedly urging her go out in public, when she was more inclined to stay in and avoid intrusions. It also pegs Mohamed al-Fayed as the person who orchestrated photos of the couple on a yacht — photos that were published for huge sums of money and subsequently fueled the hunger of the paparazzi. The series suggests that it’s all part of Mohamed al-Fayed’s effort to be accepted in British society and get the British government to grant him a passport.

What really happened to Royal Yacht Britannia from ‘The Crown’ Season 5?

In real life, Dodi Fayed did get a diamond ring while in Paris from a collection called “Dis-moi oui” (“tell me yes”). That ring was ultimately found at his apartment. But in the pages and pages of testimony compiled by British police investigators, there is nothing to support that he lured Diana to the French capital under false pretenses, and it is not known whether he proposed to her.

As for the yacht photographs, the Italian photographer who took them, Mario Brenna, said in a recent interview with the New York Times that the suggestion that he was tipped off or hired by Mohamed al-Fayed was “absurd and completely invented.” Brenna claimed that he came upon the couple on the yacht as the result of “a great stroke of luck.”

Fact-checking ‘The Crown’: Was Dodi al-Fayed engaged when he romanced Diana?

For his part, Mohamed al-Fayed blamed the deaths of the princess and his son on a conspiracy — plotted by Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, and intelligence services — to prevent a Muslim from becoming stepfather to the future British king. He also claimed that Diana had been newly pregnant. The British police investigation determined that the allegations were without foundation. But the conspiracy theory continued to carry currency in some Muslim-majority countries long after the death of Diana.

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‘The Crown’ Accused Of Fabricating Genesis Of Princess Diana & Dodi Fayed’s Fateful Romance

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SPOILER ALERT: This news story features details from Season 6 of The Crown

EXCLUSIVE : Netflix series The Crown has been accused of fabricating Mohamed Al-Fayed’s role in playing matchmaker to Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.

Season 6 has dropped on Netflix and the opening episodes chronicle the burgeoning romance between Diana and Dodi in the sun-soaked surroundings of the Mediterranean.

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This allegation was refuted in 1997 and Michael Cole, Al-Fayed’s former spokesperson, has gone on record again to deny that his ex-boss was involved in Diana and Dodi’s fateful romance.

RELATED: ‘The Crown’ Season 6 Part 1 Trailer Chronicles Diana & Dodi Fayed’s Growing Relationship Before The Deadly Car Crash

Cole told Deadline that he never witnessed or had knowledge of Al-Fayed engineering the relationship, or playing a role in making the tryst known to the entire world by commissioning photos of the couple.

“Netflix and the production company describe The Crown as ‘dramatized fiction’ and I am not going to disagree with that characterization. That means it is made up,” he said.

The opening episode of the final season of The Crown features Al-Fayed (Salim Dau) re-introducing Diana ( Elizabeth Debicki ) and Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) on his yacht, Jonikal.

RELATED: Breaking Baz: ‘The Crown’ Director Who Filmed Diana And Dodi’s Final Moments In Season 6 Says “Extraordinary” Sensitivity Was Involved In Handling Tumultuous Scenes

Al-Fayed did indeed invite Diana and her sons, Princes William and Harry, to his St. Tropez villa in the summer of 1997 and it was reported at the time that Dodi joined them on Jonikal.

But the boat provides a precinct for The Crown writer Morgan to apply some creative license, according to Cole, Al-Fayed’s former press secretary.

RELATED: ‘The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki On How Memory Of Diana’s Death Informed Her Performance & Those “Ghost” Scenes

In Episode 2, Al-Fayed orders a maid on his yacht to tell him if Dodi and Diana are “intimate.” After being informed that they are sharing a bed, the Netflix drama suggests that Al-Fayed commissioned Italian photographer Mario Brenna to take the famous photos of Diana and Dodi in a private clinch on Jonikal.

RELATED: ‘The Crown’ Season 6 Part 1 Recreates Diana’s Final Days: First-Look Images

“How do I find a good paparazzi photographer,” Dau’s Al-Fayed asks his assistant. “Not just any idiot with a long lens. I want the best photographer on the Mediterranean.”

In reality, there are conflicting accounts about how Brenna managed to snap the images, from which he reportedly earned $5M.

Last year, British journalist Tina Brown wrote in her book, The Palace Papers , that Diana herself tipped off Brenna to “send a taunting message” to her lover Hasnat Khan.

In 1997, The Independent newspaper reported that Brenna happened to spot Al-Fayed’s boat off the coast of Sardinia as he was in the area on other assignments.

RELATED: ‘The Crown’ Star Elizabeth Debicki Says Scenes Leading Up To Princess Diana’s Death Were “Completely Unbearable” To Shoot

Cole said the suggestion of Al-Fayed’s involvement in the relationship was “total nonsense.” He added: “Mohamed was a remarkable man in many ways. He was delighted that his eldest son and his family’s dear friend Diana were together. But making two people fall in love with each other? That was beyond even his great talents.”

Al-Fayed died in August at the age of 94. Cole said he suspects that his former boss, who was known for speaking his mind, would have had “quite a lot to say” about The Crown ‘s version of events.

RELATED: Dominic West Says ‘The Crown’ Season 6 Shows Charles At The “Worst Period” Of His Life

Diana and Dodi died in a car accident weeks after romance blossomed between the duo. The crash is depicted off-camera in the opening moments of The Crown’ s first Season 6 episode.

Netflix had no comment.

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The first part of “The Crown’s” highly-anticipated final season dropped on Netflix this week, with viewers tuning in to see how the series would portray the days before Princess Diana’s tragic death.

The beloved royal died alongside her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, in a car crash on Aug. 31 1997, just weeks after they began a whirlwind love affair.

“The Crown” shows Dodi’s father, Mohamed Al-Fayed (played by Palestinian actor Salim Daw) as having a hand in manufacturing their relationship in an effort to secure himself British citizenship.

However, experts are unimpressed by the show’s producers painting the former Harrod’s owner as a villain.

Royal expert Robert Jobson told Newsweek recently that “it’s disrespectful and it’s easy to attack the dead.”

Mohamed died on Aug. 30 this year at the age of 94 — almost 26 years to the day that Diana and Dodi perished.

When asked about claims that Mohamed may have manufactured his son’s romance with the princess, Jobson said: “I don’t think it’s true but I think Mohamed would have tried to manipulate the situation because he was a canny old f–ker.”

“He wouldn’t have pushed [Diana] to do it but he would have seen the opportunities involved,” he added.

But Jobson insists that Mohamed was not motivated in any way by trying to attain a UK passport, calling that plot line “bullsh-t.”

The Egyptian billionaire was rejected twice for British citizenship throughout his lifetime.

“The Crown” shows Mohamed feeling disappointed by Dodi, who in turn appears as someone struggling to get out from under his stern father’s thumb.

But Jobson says that portrayal is not accurate.

“Mohamed was a very different person in public compared to how he was in private,” he said. “He was very funny in private amongst people who he trusted.”

Meanwhile, royal correspondent Charles Rae told Newsweek that he takes issue with a plot line from “The Crown” in which Muhamed encourages the paparazzi to spy on Dodi and Diana while they were vacationing in Europe.

Episode two of the royal drama’s sixth season shows Mohamed calling up photographer Mario Brenna to take snaps of Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) and Diana {Elizabeth Debicki) kissing on the Fayed’s yacht, the Jonikal.

“Well, I don’t know if it was Mohamed who called the photographer,” Rae said, saying “The Crown” took creative liberties.

He claims it could have been Diana who tipped off the snapper.

“She could have done it because she would have wanted to show the royal family she was having a good time and enjoying herself,” Rae stated.

And, according to The New York Times , Brenna himself has denied being contacted by Muhamed.

The paparazzo calls the claim “absurd and completely invente,” saying he simply discovered Muhamed’s vessel as a “great stroke of luck.”

The photos he took of Diana and Dodi on board the vessel were subsequently sold to a British tabloid for a huge sum of money prompting paparazzi to chase the couple across Europe.

The pair were killed after being chased by snappers through a Parisian tunnel on Aug. 31 1997.

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