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An Egyptian sold it to a Qatari... Aint that cool !
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
Who cares? I didn't realize that Dodi was Egyptian. -
Re: Dem sell Harrods
An African sold the world most famous store to a man of African extraction... Naw it is of no significance.... No more than the Qatari trying to buy the UK seacond biggest store chain.. Or bought out 30's stake in Barclays then bought the biggest estate agents in the UK... Or the Qatari buying up land in Kenya....
... less important than an oprah show or Some lady being sued for sleeping with a married player of an international minority sport or tiger woods getting it on with who ever ... .
aint worth a thing.. aint no significance.. has less economic and socual impact than ANSM... Who cares ?Comment
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
exactly wahalla. if it's not some sensationalistic jerry springer gossip about someone's personal bidness, it's not even worth mentioning, never mind discussing
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
Let's face it. De British did get their wealth from people of African descent and other people all over the world. So yes it's high time the wealth reverted to it's rightful owners. You'll see more and more of this as time goes on.Comment
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tropicana</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Let's face it. De British did get their wealth from people of African descent and other people all over the world. So yes it's high time the wealth reverted to it's rightful owners. You'll see more and more of this as time goes on. </div></div>
And thus we have the comment who cares ?Comment
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
Exactly. You're going to see this type of thing more and more. It's long overdue and will soon become common place. The only people you see making a big deal about it are British people crying that their legacy is being sold to foreigners. Every time, dem start fi bawl. Mi noh ave no time fi dem. That's why I say "Who cares?" Why should a person of African descent, Asian descent or Arab descent acquire wealth and own property? Why is it thought to be only the privilege of White folks?
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wahalla</div><div class="ubbcode-body">An Egyptian sold it to a Qatari... Aint that cool ! </div></div>
btw, dem gi my guy him citizenship yet,...not to mention him OBE r wicheva di order dem wi gi to BIG bizniz men...
wonder if him sell cause of financial problems r him juss fed up wid di many fights him have over di decades wid di British 'establishment' resenting dat an Egyptian owned a British landmark, i.e. Harrods...
his continued fight to prove dat di royals etal kill him son cause Di was wid a man of colour neva help him case noneComment
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A Diana Epilogue: Dodi Fayed's Dad Sells Harrods
A Diana Epilogue: Dodi Fayed's Dad Sells Harrods
By Catherine Mayer / London Saturday, May. 08, 2010
Mohamed al Fayed has long insisted he would resist any attempts to dislodge him from Harrods during his lifetime — and even beyond it. When I interviewed the Egyptian tycoon in 1998, a year after the death in a Paris car crash of his eldest son Dodi and Dodi's inamorata Diana, Princess of Wales, al Fayed told me he planned to build a glass pyramid on the roof of the iconic London department store he bought in 1985 for 617 million pounds (about a billion dollars at that time). "Here in the stairwell I've had my face carved 12 times in place onto the body of pharaoh Ramses. It's now a memorial," he said. "When I die, I'll have myself mummified and placed in a glass pyramid on the roof so that people can come and visit me."
If he still hopes for a final resting place atop Harrods, he perhaps included such a stipulation in his secret negotiations with Qatar Holding, an arm of the Qatari state investment authority, which on May 8 emerged as the new owner of the store. The deal, reportedly for 1.5 billion pounds ($2.2 billion), was confirmed by Ken Costa of the investment bank Lazard International, an advisor to the sale. Costa's statement to the British broadcaster Sky News explained that al Fayed "has decided to retire and to spend more time with his children and his grandchildren."
(See photos from the inquest into deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.)
Time may have mellowed al Fayed, but it's tough to imagine the pugnacious businessman relaxing into a quiet — and feud-free — retirement. When rumors of a takeover circulated earlier this year, al Fayed rejected them with the robust invective that is his hallmark. "People approach us from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar," he told Britain's Sunday Times. "Fair enough, but I put two fingers up to them all. It is not for sale. This is not Marks & Spencer or Sainsbury. It is a special place that gives people pleasure. There is only one Mecca."
There is indisputably only one al Fayed too, though he once told a British tabloid he was having himself cloned 2,000 times. When I asked why he'd sown the cloning rumor, his explanation was crisp: "I just wanted to upset the British establishment." Al Fayed has a rare talent for upsetting the British establishment, and ownership of the British establishment's favorite department store gave him unparalleled opportunities for doing just that.
His purchase of Harrods 25 years ago was itself controversial. A British government inquiry raised questions about the deal and likely influenced the authorities' decision to reject al Fayed's applications for U.K. citizenship. He eventually abandoned his pursuit of naturalization and exacted revenge on the Conservative party which first turned him down by revealing he had paid two of its MPs to ask questions on his behalf in the House of Commons. He also helped to expose the perjury of a former defense minister, Jonathan Aitken. But al Fayed continued his quest for social acceptance by the British upper crust, and when he befriended the recently divorced Diana and watched her flirtation with his son develop, he seemed close to realizing that goal.
The fatal car crash on Aug 31 1997 metastasized al Fayed's years of resentment into a grief-fueled conviction that the establishment had murdered Dodi and Diana rather than allow the relationship to continue. He campaigned for the inquest that in 2008 concluded that the reckless driving of their chauffeur Henri Paul and the pursuit of the paparazzi caused the crash. Al Fayed's more exotic theory — that Diana's former father-in-law Prince Philip masterminded the deliberate killing of the pair — failed to sway the jury.
If the sale of Harrods betokens al Fayed's retreat from public life, that may come as something of a relief to Britain's royal family, which generally finds controversies enough on its plate. (Indeed, the Queen is currently in the odd constitutional position of potentially "deciding" who should govern Britain after the May 6 elections produced a hung parliament. She will act on the advice of politicians and Whitehall officials.)
But it seems unlikely that al Fayed will really disappear from view. He still owns Fulham, a football team in England's Premier League, along with other businesses. And he retains the title "honorary chairman" at Harrods, though Lazard's Costa says al Fayed won't be involved in the day-to-day running of the store.
Moreover, although al Fayed never was fully accepted into the brittle society of the British elite, he achieved what for most outsiders remains a distant dream: to put an indelible imprint on a British institution. Two shrines he erected to Diana and Dodi inside Harrods have become must-sees for many London tourists and a focus for the passionate emotions that the dead princess still arouses. The first installation showcases an unwashed wine glass from their last evening together, along with a piece of jewelry al Fayed describes as an engagement ring given by Dodi to Diana. A second memorial is depicted on al Fayed's website in the following terms: "The bronze statue of the couple dancing is entitled Innocent Victims and is located at Door Three. It is a life-sized sculpture of Diana and Dodi gazing lovingly into each other's eyes as they release an albatross into the sky." As the ancient mariner discovered before them, the new owners would be wise not to touch that albatross.Comment
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Re: A Diana Epilogue: Dodi Fayed's Dad Sells Harrods
He apparently wants to be the first president of an independent Scotland...
But more interestingly the Qataris bought the brand.. They have a branch in Qatar and intend to open a series of stores elsewhere.. China...
I always have a soft spot for harrods.. A girl I usta know worked there.. a rather winsome lady.... ( I might add I have never bought anything there !)Comment
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tropicana</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Exactly. You're going to see this type of thing more and more. It's long overdue and will soon become common place. The only people you see making a big deal about it are <span style="font-weight: bold">British people crying that their legacy is being sold to foreigners. Every time, dem start fi bawl. </span>Mi noh ave no time fi dem. That's why I say "Who cares?" Why should a person of African descent, Asian descent or Arab descent acquire wealth and own property? Why is it thought to be only the privilege of White folks?</span> </div></div>
Now ain't that the truth! If former slaveholding countries and colonial "masters" gave back everything that they stole, the countries would be very empty indeed. They need to remember when they grumble about Africans, Arabs, and Asians "taking over". If the ancesters of said Africans, Arabs, and Asians had shown Europeans the same "welcome", the world would likely be a more equitable and just place now.Comment
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wahalla</div><div class="ubbcode-body">An Egyptian sold it to a Qatari... Aint that cool ! </div></div>
Still one of the spots I hit up when in London one of the few places I see selling thier own brand of blue mountain coffee. Gets too crowded but I like the place, I am sure nothing will change under the new ownership.Comment
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Re: Dem sell Harrods
My daughter work in their perfume department for about 6 months on exchange program someyears ago.
That was when she was in college.
Expensive place if you ask me.
But You didn't
Since I had to pay for all the overpriced stuff She bought.
Still mad at the thought
..<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kingston20</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wahalla</div><div class="ubbcode-body">An Egyptian sold it to a Qatari... Aint that cool ! </div></div>
Still one of the spots I hit up when in London one of the few places I see selling thier own brand of blue mountain coffee. Gets too crowded but I like the place, I am sure nothing will change under the new ownership. </div></div>Comment
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