Different from “The Crown”?
The real love story of Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed
© IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
The new “The Crown” episodes show the love between Diana and Dodi. How close does the series stay to reality? This really happened.
The Netflix series “The Crown” tells the love story of Princess Diana (1961-1997) and Dodi Al-Fayed (1955-1997) in its new episodes. The ex-wife of the current King Charles (75) and the film producer met shortly before they died in a car accident in Paris. However, a lot is known about the couple – this is the true love story of Diana and Dodi.
Dodi Al-Fayed’s Hollywood career
Diana and Dodi began their romance in the summer of 1997, shortly after the end of Diana’s relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (65). Dodi Al-Fayed comes from a family of billionaires. He was the eldest son of Samira Khashoggi (1935-1986), an author from Saudi Arabia, and Mohamed Al-Fayed (1929-2023), a businessman from Egypt who owned, among other things, the luxury department store Harrods and the Ritz Paris hotel.
Dodi Al-Fayed was the producer of “The Hour of the Victor” through his family’s production company, “Allied Stars.” The film won the 1982 Oscar for Best Picture. He also worked on films such as “Breaking Glass” and “The Scarlet Letter,” among others. In addition to his projects in Hollywood, Dodi worked with his father in various family businesses.
Dodi was also divorced
Dodi Al-Fayed married the model Susanne Gregard in 1986. The couple separated just a few months later. Nevertheless, his ex-wife apparently remembers their time together positively. In August 1997, she told People: “He was so romantic and thoughtful.” He didn’t take things too seriously, she explained: “Once, during a candlelight dinner he arranged, the table we were sitting at collapsed and the whole turkey fell to the floor. We laughed so much. That was what I loved about him.”
According to The Guardian, Dodi Before his relationship with Diana, he was also rumored to have had romances with other famous women, including Brooke Shields (58), Julia Roberts (56), Winona Ryder (52) and Daryl Hannah (62). When the film producer finally got together with Diana in 1997, he was also reportedly engaged to a model named Kelly Fisher.
His ex sued Dodi because of Diana
The relationship between Dodi and Diana became public in August 1997 when a kiss between the two on the Fayed family’s yacht was photographed by a paparazzo. Through this photo, Kelly Fisher is said to have found out that her supposed fiancé is with Diana.
The model then even sued Dodi for ending their relationship. Fisher held a press conference in Beverly Hills on August 15, 1997. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said Dodi “emotionally led her all the way to the altar” and left her when they were almost there. After the accidental deaths of Dodi and Diana, Fisher dropped the lawsuit.
Fisher is also an important figure at the beginning of the sixth season of “The Crown”. She is played by Erin Richards (37). Almost an entire episode is also dedicated to the famous kiss photo.
Did Mohamed Al-Fayed arrange the relationship between Dodi and Diana?
Was Mohamed Al-Fayed, whom Diana had known for years, really behind the relationship between his son and Charles’ ex-wife? The makers of “The Crown” stage the love story like this. But the historian also speculated about this Sally Bedell Smith (75) once in “Vanity Fair”. Dodi basically did everything his father told him, she believes. However, in 1997, according to media reports, the Al-Fayed family said that Dodi and Diana had known each other for a long time, “in a distant way.”
Dodi and Diana died in a car accident
The car accident that killed Dodi and Diana occurred on August 31, 1997, while the couple was vacationing in Paris after a trip to the French and Italian Riviera. In the accident, Dodi Al-Fayed and the driver of the car, Henri Paul (1956-1997), were killed on the spot. Diana was taken to hospital and died a short time later from her injuries. British bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones (55) is the only survivor.
Later there were speculations and rumors that Dodi and Diana were engaged before her death. A possible engagement is also an important topic in “The Crown”.
After the accident, Mohamed Al-Fayed also launched one of many conspiracy theories that are still discussed today. At the time, he firmly believed that Diana and Dodi were victims of an assassination attempt.