As the second anniversary of the BBC documentary that first revealed the scale of the horrific abuse and exploitation suffered by hundreds of survivors at the hands of Mohamed Al Fayed and those who enabled him approaches, we want to take time highlighting the profound and lasting impact on survivors who are still seeking justice.
Having previously spoken publicly to raise awareness of the systemic abuse perpetrated by Fayed, and to reassure other survivors that they were not alone, our clients are once again finding the courage to speak out.
Read their stories:
Sarah is among a group of survivors bringing claims against the Estate of Mohamed Al Fayed and Harrods, although she was never employed by Harrods or directly by the family. She had simply gone for a meal with friends when she was introduced to Fayed at the restaurant, where he took advantage of the situation and subjected her to horrific abuse.
Sarah was highly critical of the time it took for the defendants to agree the mechanisms with KP Law last December. She is now appalled that the defendants and their lawyers continue to create obstacles, causing further delays and making it as difficult as possible for her, and hundreds of other survivors, to secure the justice they deserve.
Sarah commented:
“The Harrods redress scheme simply wasn’t right. Not only did it put Harrods in control, but it was focused on what was best for them, and not on the needs of the survivors.
Despite entering into the agreements with KP Law in December last year, 9 months on nothing has really changed and both The Estate and Harrods continue to place more importance on fighting between themselves and their own commercial needs rather than moving forward to resolve things.
Like every survivor, I want this over, and I need closure. I had hoped that the mechanism agreed last December would make this happen, but they have shown time and again that they simply don’t care about the impact of the delays, caused by their own actions, have on survivors.
Almost 2 years on from the documentary that exposed the true nature of the abuse all survivors deserve better”.
Sarah Savogi survived significant abuse at the hands of Fayed. She should not now be made a victim of the legal games that continue to delay justice.
Enough is enough. It is time for those responsible to stop putting obstacles in survivors’ way, do the right thing, and help every survivor obtain the justice and closure they deserve.
Caroline Lazell or Carrie as she prefers to be called, worked at Harrods for 4 years, between 1994 and 1998. Originally working on the shop floor in Women’s Fashion, she subsequently moved ‘upstairs’, becoming an in-house illustrator within the Design Team of Harrods. During her 4 years at Harrods, Carrie suffered systematic abuse at the hands of Fayed.
Having suppressed what happened to her for almost 30 years and having rebuilt her life, Carrie now has a daughter who is striking out to build a career of her own and wants to do everything in her power to protect her and ensure that businesses and society do everything possible to ensure nothing similar is allowed to happen to her and millions of others.
As with all our survivors, Carrie welcomed the KP Law mechanisms, seeing them as a very positive way forward to finally get justice and a form of closure. However, 9 months on and with still no real sign of progress, Carrie believes that Harrods and The Estate simply have no intention of putting survivors first.
The recent disclosure in the financial statements issued by Harrods that show how little they have paid out in compensation within its closed redress scheme, and the estimated total value of all the survivor claims represented by KP Law survivor clients has strengthened her belief that Harrods simply don’t care and will always continue to put itself, and its commercial needs, ahead of the survivors.
Carrie commented
“Even after 30 years, I can still feel the shock, anger, and betrayal that what I believed to be private medical results were passed to Al Fayed, who then seemed to take pleasure in reading them out to me.
The Harrods redress scheme, which allowed Harrods to obtain its own psychiatric medical reports, brought all this flooding back, and was one of the many reasons why I immediately rejected the scheme controlled by them.
However, since then I have been sickened by the further delays and the constant arguments between The Estate and Harrods. This was made worse by the recent newspaper coverage that stated that Harrods has paid out over £60 million in compensation. Something that is simply not true. When will Harrods stop lying and be honest on how many claims it has settled and how much it has actually paid out. And why are they refusing to move forward with KP Law until the Passing Over Application has been heard later this year. All this is doing is causing delay and more pain”.
We are now moving towards the 2-year anniversary of when the documentary aired that exposed the true nature of the abuse and exploitation suffered by hundreds of survivors. It is despicable that the legal process, aimed at getting survivors true justice and accountability is able to be held up by Harrods as they put its own commercial concerns above survivors.
Catherine has been a strong voice for raising awareness about the systematic abuse she and countless other survivors suffered at the hands of Al Fayed. She worked at Harrods as a personal assistant to the Chairman between 1990 and 1991. During that time, she suffered multiple sexual assaults by Al Fayed and was subjected to unnecessary and invasive medical examinations. While the results of these examinations were shared with select members of the ‘Harrods team’, Catherine never received her own results.
Like many survivors, Catherine was highly critical of the Harrods redress scheme which was established in March 2025. Her primary concerns were Harrods' requirement for psychiatric medical examinations conducted by Harrods' chosen practitioners with this policy bringing back distressing memories of the experiences from her time working at Harrods and the simple fact that the scheme failed to recognise the varying degrees of abuse experienced by each individual.
On the second anniversary of the BBC documentary that first revealed the scale of the horrific abuse and exploitation suffered by hundreds of survivors at the hands of Mohamed Al Fayed and those who enabled him approaches, and over 9 months since the KP Law mechanisms were agreed with Harrods and the Estate, Catherine believes that Harrods and The Estate simply have no intention of putting survivors first.
The recent disclosure in the financial statements issued by Harrods that show they had only paid £4.1m in compensation up to the end of January 2026, that the estimated total value of all the survivor claims represented by KP Law survivor clients could be as high as £150m and that Harrods are now seeking full indemnity from the Estate, has strengthened her belief that Harrods simply don’t care and will always continue to put itself, and its commercial needs, ahead of the survivors.
Catherine commented:
“It is over 9 months from when I believed we were finally moving forward and would be able to get justice and the closure that is needed, and yet we appear to be at a complete standstill as Harrods, and the Estate, fight it out between themselves.
The most recent announcement, that Harrods are now looking to claim against the Estate for every pound they have paid in compensation for allowing the systematic abuse to take place is truly sickening. Harrods have stated that they are sorry and that they are putting survivors first but everything they do is the complete opposite. If you are guilty of something then you should accept responsibility and take appropriate measures to settle swiftly, enabling the survivors to draw closure with the least amount of further trauma.
Harrods are saying one thing but doing something else and are doing everything they can to escape paying anything and its simply not right”.
Natacha worked directly for Al Fayed, The Chairman as one of his personal assistants between 1990-1991. Working between Park Lane and Harrods, Natacha experienced the systematic abuse that all survivors endured.
Like many others, Natacha has previously weaved her right to anonymity to ensure her voice was heard. She has been a strong advocate for the rights of survivors seeking justice and has consistently called for accountability for those who enabled the abuse, including individuals around Al Fayed.
Natacha expressed significant criticism of the current Harrods redress scheme, which remained under the control of many senior managers who were present during those years of abuse.
In light of the recent disclosures on the true value of the claim, the constant in fighting between Harrods and the Estate and the recent announcement of Harrods seeking full indemnity against the Estate Natacha comments:
“I have been appalled at the delays and the constant arguments between The Estate and Harrods. The only ones that suffer are the survivors, many of whom have been waiting for decades for justice.
We are on the 2-year anniversary of when the documentary aired that exposed the true nature of the abuse and exploitation suffered by hundreds of survivors, and it is despicable that the legal process, aimed at getting survivors true justice and accountability is able to be held up by Harrods as they put its own commercial concerns above survivors. They will argue that what they are doing is not delaying anything but that is simply not true.
And now to understand that Harrods are now looking escape from any commercial consequences is simply horrific. Harrods should be held to account and made to pay. They have said they have the interests of survivors at heart … but that is simply not true.
Shanta
“As a survivor, I find this latest development deeply disturbing. Harrods has repeatedly told survivors and the public that it accepts responsibility for the horrific abuse that took place within its institution. Yet we now learn that it intends to seek recovery from Mohamed Al Fayed’s Estate for every pound it may be required to pay survivors.
My abuse did not happen in some separate world belonging only to Mohamed Al Fayed. I was recruited through Harrods. I was selected while working at Harrods. I was subjected to processes and controls that existed within Harrods, and I was abused within the very institution that employed me. Harrods was not simply the backdrop to what happened to me, it was the environment in which I was recruited, selected, controlled and ultimately abused.
That is why this feels like such a profound contradiction. Harrods cannot tell me that it accepts institutional responsibility for what happened to me, while simultaneously seeking to ensure that the institution ultimately bears none of the financial consequence.
For me, accountability is not simply writing a cheque and then recovering every penny from someone else. It means accepting that what happened to me happened within Harrods, and confronting the institutional systems, failures and people that allowed it to happen.”