Mohammed Al Fayed sold Harrods in 2010. The current owners say they are "utterly appalled" by the women's allegations and are seeking to settle claims "in the quickest way possible" since "new information came to light" in 2023.

Earlier this week, the store said it was conducting an internal review into whether current staff were involved in the allegations against Fayed, "directly or indirectly".

It also said it was in direct communication with the Metropolitan Police. Here's part of the Harrods' statement:

"We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.

"We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.

"The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do."

Image source, Reuters

This morning we heard from five of Mohammed Al Fayed's victims, one of who spoke out for the first time. Here's a recap of their interviews:

• Gemma said the trauma of being raped by Fayed is "life-long" and is "probably never going to go away"
• Lindsay recalled "the most terrifying night of my life" when she was locked in Dodi Fayed's flat in Paris. She said was "trafficked" during what she believed was a business trip
• Jen told how Fayed would isolate his victims to ensure they didn't speak to one another. She also spoke of the surveillance she was under: "Our phones were tapped, there were surveillance cameras in our offices". She said the flat Fayed gave her to live in "also had cameras in it"
• Katherine spoke of how Fayed would humiliate her daily when she began working for him, making remarks about her appearance, telling her to wax her top lip, and ripping the buttons off her shirt
• Nicole told how there was a "palpable sense of anxiety" in Fayed's office "that you could really feel... like a hum in the air". "It was a battle to come out the other side smiling"

Jen, who waived her right to anonymity to speak publicly about her experience, urged anyone affected to come forward if they haven't already.

"We can't hold Mohamed to account, because he is dead, but the one thing we can do now is be absolutely sure that people know the truth about this man," Jen tells the BBC.

Adding: "He was not a gregarious, charity-giving clown. He was a dangerous sexual predator."

Nicole says Fayed's wealth and power meant he was "successful at covering his tracks".

"He was so successful at putting people up in front of him that he could hide behind, that basically enabled that behaviour to continue so long unchecked."

"People who should have stepped in and been the checks and balances along the way didn't."

Nicole - who worked for Fayed as his executive assistant between 2005 and 2007 - says when people question why more of Fayed's victims did not come forward sooner, she says they "had nowehere to go".

"Where are they going to go, who are they going to speak to?" she asks.

She adds that it is now "really heart-warming for us now to see that people are believing and listening" to their stories.

Dean Armstrong KC, one of the barristers representing alleged victims and forming the civil case against Harrods, tells the BBC the claim is very much centred around the company - Harrods.

"There was a whole system to facilitate this. He wasn't installing cameras for these purposes on his own, he wasn't removing keys on his own, he wasn't creating this atmosphere of fear [on his own]," Armstrong says.

The lawyer says that for the threats Fayed made to have any validity, "which it did, other people must have been involved".

For context, Fayed sold Harrods in 2010. The current owners say that the Harrods of today "is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010", the statement says, and one that seeks to "put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do". It says it wants to "settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved".

Jen says that when she first started working for Fayed he told her to view him "as a father figure".

"He asked me to call him papa when we were on our own with him," she says.

Jen worked for Mohamed Al Fayed for almost five years and says she was subjected to a number of serious sexual assaults and attempted rape. She tells the BBC she thought it was only happening to her.

"Isolation was a really important thing for him," she says, adding that other people who suffered abuse never had the opportunity to speak to one another.

"Our phones were tapped, there were surveillance cameras in our offices," Jen says, adding that the flat she had in Park Lane - who Fayed gave her to live in - "also had cameras in it".

Jen says she was constantly living in fear, that she was being listened to at all times.

"It's terribly sad how many victims this has happened to," she adds.

This is the first time she is speaking publicly, and says she was afraid and thought that what happened was her fault.

She adds:

During her time worked as a personal assistant to Mohamed Al Fayed for five months between 1989 to 1990, Lindsay went on what she thought was a business trip but soon realised that "actually I was being trafficked".

She recalled being out to dinner with Fayed and several others. During the meal, she was tapped on the shoulder by a security guard and taken to Dodi's - Fayed's son - flat.

As she walked in the door was locked behind her and the security guard told her "oh, it's just to keep you safe", says Lindsay.

"But actually it was to make sure you couldn't escape... it was the most terrifying night of my life."

It is not known if Dodi Fayed was in the flat at the time.

We can now bring you Lindsay's testimony, who says Harrods will never leave her and the memories she has from the tragic episodes are still inside her.

"Harrods need to have some accountability, because someone paid for the medical," she tells the BBC, as she had to undergo invasive gynaecological exams before taking up the job.

In her view, Harrods enabled the situation where she was abused. "Who needs 25 PAs?" she asks.

Lindsay says she is triggered by many things that bring her back to the time she was abused by Fayed, including the music he played during that time.

Lindsay worked as a personal assistant to Fayed for five months between 1989 to 1990 and says he sexually harassed her and eventually attempted to rape her in Paris.

As a reminder: Fayed sold Harrods in 2010 and the current owners have said they are "utterly appalled" by the allegations against Fayed and had been seeking to settle claims "in the quickest way possible" since "new information came to light" in 2023.

Jen worked for Mohamed Al Fayed for almost five years and was subjected to a number of serious sexual assaults and attempted rape. She is speaking on this publicly for the first time today.

She says she has lived with what happened to her for 35 years and hadn't "told a soul" because Fayed "still felt like a threat until the moment he died".

She says his death in September 2023 "helped me to come forward without any fear".

Jen says she is speaking out now about what happened as she "would like to appeal to anyone else who has been through something like this to come forward".

Gemma, who travelled with Fayed, tells the BBC about the impact of being raped in Paris whilst she worked for the Harrods boss as one of his PAs between 2007 and 2009.

Gemma says his behaviour became more frightening during work trips abroad.

"It's something that's probably never going to go away," Gemma says, adding that being able to come out and speak about it is helpful.

"These women have been amazing support," she says, but adds that the trauma from the abuse is "life-long".

Nicole worked for Mohamed Al Fayed as his executive assistant between 2005 and 2007, and worked at the same time as Katherine.

She recalls how there was a "palpable sense of anxiety" in the office "that you could really feel... like a hum in the air", as no one knew what sort of a mood Fayed would be in each day.

"It was a battle to come out the other side smiling," she says.

Katherine tells the BBC she was hired in 2005 with Nicole, who is also at the BBC Breakfast studio.

She says the first week was humiliating, with Mohamed Al Fayed commenting on her appearance, ripping the buttons off her shirt, giving her money to buy new clothes and asking her to straighten her hair and sending her to get her lips waxed.

"I ended up with a lot of suits," Katherine tells the BBC, adding that by the end of the first week she was shattered.

Katherine worked as a Senior PA for three months in 2005

She says she went to Paris with him, where she didn't feel safe as her hotel room door did not lock and she had to barricade herself in for safety.

Women who accuse Mohamed Al Fayed of sexual abuse are about to speak to our colleagues on BBC Breakfast - you can watch live at the top of the page, or by pressing play below.

If you are affected by issues of sexual assault you can contact the BBC Action Line here

Image source, PA Media

A billionaire businessman who owned Harrods between 1985 and 2010; the father of Dodi Fayed who died in a car crash with Princess Diana in 1997; and now - a year after his death - a man accused of raping and sexually assaulting a number of his employees.

Who was he and how did he die?

Fayed, originally from Egypt, built a business empire in the Middle East before moving to the UK in the 1970s - and taking over Harrods in 1985. He also owned Fulham Football Club and the Ritz Hotel in Paris. He died last year, aged 94, and spent the end of his life largely out of the public limelight, living in his Surrey mansion with his wife.

Where are Fayed's children now?

Fayed had five children - the most famous of which was Dodi. He died in 1997, aged 42, alongside Princess Diana in a car crash. The pair had a brief romance in the weeks leading up to their deaths. Fayed, and his son, became known to a new generation through the two most recent Netflix series of The Crown.

As we mentioned, Fayed sold Harrods in 2010. The current owners say they are "utterly appalled" by the allegations and are seeking to settle claims "in the quickest way possible" since "new information came to light" in 2023.

Earlier this week, the store said it was conducting an internal review into whether current staff were involved in the allegations against Fayed, "directly or indirectly".

It also said it was in direct communication with the Metropolitan Police. Here's part of the Harrods' statement:

"We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.

"We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.

"The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do."

Image source, Reuters

The BBC’s initial investigation heard testimony from more than 20 female ex-Harrods employees who say the former owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, sexually assaulted or raped them.

Thirteen say Fayed sexually assaulted them at his luxury apartment, in a large block on Park Lane overlooking London's Hyde Park. Four of them say they were raped, including a woman who says she was a teenager at the time.

Eight other women say they were sexually assaulted by Fayed at his properties in Paris - five describe these assaults as an attempted rape.

Fayed faced sexual assault claims while he was alive, including in 2008 when police questioned him over allegations made by a girl who said Fayed attacked her in a Harrods boardroom.

But it is only now, after his death, that many of the women have felt able to speak publicly. Fourteen of the women the BBC has spoken to have brought civil claims against Harrods' current owners for damages.

In the next hour, several women who accuse the late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed of sexual abuse will speak to our colleagues on BBC Breakfast.

The interviews follow a BBC investigation that heard from more than 20 women who say they were abused by Fayed.

Fayed sold Harrods in 2010. The current owners say they are "utterly appalled" by the allegations and that his victims had been failed.

You can watch BBC Breakfast by pressing watch live at the top of the page, and stay here for updates.