Harrods has disclosed that it is seeking full indemnity from the estate of its late former owner Mohamed Al Fayed for compensation it must pay over alleged sexual abuse by him, as the financial scale of the scandal continued to grow.
The position was disclosed in September 2026. Harrods wants to recover money already paid to women who allege abuse by Fayed, and to have future settlements arising from the same allegations covered by his estate. The move sits alongside the store's earlier acceptance of vicarious liability for sexual abuse allegedly carried out by Fayed during his ownership. Vicarious liability is a legal rule that can make an employer answer for alleged acts committed by someone in charge; indemnity would mean the company pays claims first and the estate carries the final cost. Harrods said its priority was to ensure all eligible survivors received compensation and that it continued to settle claims, and it has not described the recovery action as a limit on payments to survivors.
The law firm KP Law, which acts for the majority of known survivors, said compensation claims against Harrods and the estate by the 275 survivors it represents could reach up to £150 million. An earlier estimate had put claims by the same group at at least £100 million, with a combined potential bill for Harrods and the estate of more than £200 million. Almost 300 women now say they were sexually abused by Fayed, and more than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against him and other perpetrators linked to him, spanning the years 1977 to 2014 and including rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
The disclosures came as survivors staged a protest outside the Knightsbridge department store, accusing Harrods of treating them as an inconvenience and saying its silence and delay was harming them further. They were joined by MPs from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Survivors of Fayed and Harrods, whose co-chairs said the store wanted to wash its hands of the scandal. The demonstration marked two years since a BBC documentary first exposed allegations of rape and sexual abuse against Fayed.
Nothing emerged publicly until after Fayed died in 2023 at the age of 94. Since then, a picture has emerged of what journalists and lawyers have described as a system of abuse. Women who worked at Harrods described constant monitoring of their appearance, and many claimed to have been sexually attacked not only at the store but at Fulham Football Club, which Fayed also owned, at country estates and in exclusive apartments. Some accounts described women being paid to travel from Paris to London on the pretence of job offers, only to be assaulted on arrival.
The Metropolitan Police is dealing with at least 159 victims who contacted it directly, including 21 who came forward before Fayed's death. Its investigation, known as Operation Cornpoppy, was launched in November 2024 and is examining people who may have facilitated or enabled his alleged crimes. Seven people have been questioned under caution. Harrods has also opened an investigation into whether any of its current staff were directly or indirectly involved; one employee left the store in 2025 in connection with that inquiry.
For Harrods, now owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the scandal has become an existential reputational crisis, threatening the image of one of Britain's most famous luxury brands. For the survivors, the central demand remains unchanged: full compensation and a complete account of who knew what, and when, during the decades in which Fayed owned the store.