Harrods is stripping out a lavish Egyptian-themed escalator and a series of statues of Mohammed Fayed after more than 100 women accused the disgraced former owner of rape and sexual assault.
Sixteen sculptures showing Fayed as an Egyptian pharaoh are set to be torn down as the Knightsbridge store attempts to erase his legacy.
The dramatic move will also see the removal of a five-storey escalator that the tycoon installed in the mid-1990s to celebrate his homeland, as per The Telegraph.
Store bosses said the current deign ‘explicitly celebrates’ Fayed, describing the busts of his face as a ‘visual reminder of his misdeeds’.
Fayed sold Harrods to Qatar for £1.5billion in 2010, but survivors have long criticised the continued presence of the monuments.
Among them is Lindsay Mason, who said Fayed tried to rape her in 1989. She urged the new owners in September last year to act.
At the time, she told The Sun: ‘The current owners of Harrods have kept his shrines in place throughout their tenure, which is so deeply disappointing.
‘I beg the owners to do the right thing and wipe him from history.’
Sixteen sculptures showing Fayed as an Egyptian pharaoh are set to be torn down as the Knightsbridge store attempts to erase his legacy
Fayed sold Harrods to Qatar for £1.5billion in 2010, but survivors have long criticised the continued presence of the monuments
Following her intervention, the 175-year-old store ordered a review into the sculptures by property experts Carter Jonas.
Their findings concluded: ‘The current owners are acutely aware, for the sake of the general public and current and previous staff of Harrods, that the space was decorated and commissioned by the previous owner, Mohamed Fayed, and needs to change.
‘This is not “contested heritage” in the sense that there is some historical issue at stake; it is the continuing public celebration of a man whose victims are still alive.’
The Egyptian hall, created in 1995, was once one of Harrods’ main tourist attractions.
But Fayed, who died aged 94 in 2023, has since been accused of numerous sex crimes – including the alleged assault of a 15-year-old girl in a Harrods boardroom and the rape rape of one of his personal assistants at his luxury Hyde Park flat.
Harrods now plans to replace the ornate escalator with a modern alternative, subject to approval by Kensington and Chelsea council.
A spokesman for the store said: ‘Harrods is a Grade II* listed building, and so any proposed changes in store require considered plans, lengthy assessments and close work with a number of relevant authorities.
‘Having heard feedback from survivors, we have been working to expedite the proposed redevelopment project of the Egyptian escalators, and a planning and listed building consent application has now been submitted.’
Daily Mail has approached Harrods for comment.
It comes after Fayed’s former bodyguard revealed in an explosive book in June that the boss spied on customers using the changing rooms at Harrods for decades.
The security man said there was a ‘good chance’ that shoppers using the facilities at the Knightsbridge store during his reign were being ‘watched’ by the serial rapist.
Fayed, who died aged 94 in 2023, has since been accused of numerous sex crimes – including the alleged assault of a 15-year-old girl in a Harrods boardroom and the rape of his former personal assistant at his luxury Hyde Park flat
In the Monster of Harrods, the bodyguard known only as Biggie said the store was awash with cameras which also recorded inside the female staff toilets and locker rooms.
‘People don’t talk about this – there were cameras right up to the entrance and slightly inside the changing rooms used by Harrods customers, which meant if you were in a Harrods changing room during the Fayed era, there was a good chance that he was watching you,’ Biggie revealed.
The installation of cameras, as well as bugging telephones, was said to have been ordered by the head of security ex-detective John Macnamara so Fayed could keep tabs on and seek out potential victims.
‘The guys looked at the screens as if their lives depended on it. But they also realised that many of the questions Macnamara asked were about females who had caught Fayed’s eye, so there was also a lot of sniggering as they watched women in changing rooms and toilets,’ said Biggie.
Biggie, who was described as 6ft 4in and 20st, was employed as one of the very first ‘generals’ in Fayed’s security detail after he purchased the iconic store in 1985.
