The death of Princess Diana on August 31, 1997, sent shockwaves around the globe. Millions grieved the loss of the royal when she passed away at the age of just 36 after she was involved in a fatal car crash in Paris, which also claimed the life of film producer Dodi Al Fayed, the son of the late former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

Following Mohamed’s passing at the age of 94 last week, journalist Andrew Neil has claimed the businessman blamed himself for the deaths of his son and the Princess of Wales because he allowed Dodi to follow through on his romantic plan to whisk Diana away to his private flat. The plan meant they had to travel from the Ritz hotel to Dodi’s apartment, and it was during that journey that the crash happened.

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Mohamed Al Fayed blamed himself for Diana’s death ( 
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Mohamed Al Fayed at Diana’s funeral ( 
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Santiago Lyon/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Writing in the Daily Mail, Andrew explained Dodi and Diana had been staying in the Imperial Suite at the Ritz in Paris but Diana had been “distraught” because of a “paparazzi mob” that had gathered outside the hotel. The pair were set to spend their last night together for some time and so Dodi concocted a romantic plan to take her to the “privacy and anonymity” of his Champs-Elysées flat where they could create “nothing but happy memories”.

Recalling his conversation with Mohamed after Dodi and Diana’s deaths, Andrew wrote: “He recounted how Dodi had come up with the cockamamie plan to shake off the paparazzi by escaping via the back entrance of The Ritz hotel, where he and Diana were ensconced in the Imperial Suite. But his security detail said they did not work for Dodi and that to leave the hotel in the manner he wanted would require Mohamed’s approval.”

Dodi called his father, and while Mohamed initially told him to relax with Diana at the Ritz where they were “safe and secure”, he eventually caved to his son’s request. But his decision to allow his son and the Princess of Wales to leave the Ritz haunted Mohamed for the rest of his life.

Shortly after their passing, he told Andrew: “I will never forgive myself for going along with Dodi’s plan. He would still be alive but for me.”

Mohamed died last week shortly before the 26th anniversary of Dodi and Diana’s deaths, and it was recently reported he had “started to accept Diana’s death was an accident”, despite previously being “haunted” by conspiracy theories including one claim that Diana was pregnant with Dodi’s child. This was proven to be false during her post mortem.

He accused an array of people and organisations of being implicated in a wild conspiracy to kill Diana and Dodi, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Diana’s sister Sarah McCorquodale and her husband Robert Fellowes, French toxicologists, French ambulance drivers, the car’s driver Henri Paul, two former London police chiefs, three bodyguards, and even some of Diana’s closest friends.

The inquest found that Diana and Dodi were unlawfully killed in the crash but no plot was ever uncovered. His relationship with the Royal Family remained soured for years, but softened slightly after Prince William extended an olive branch to him by inviting his daughters Camilla and Jasmine to join a memorial service for Diana.