Royals
Princess Diana & Dodi Fayed’s First Meeting Is Still A Bit Of A Mystery
But we do know a polo match was involved.
There have been many controversies ahead of the release of Netflix’s The Crown season 5. But one of the biggest ones has to be around Princess Diana’s relationship with billionaire Dodi Fayed, following her separation and divorce from Prince Charles. Despite being a short-lived romance, Dodi and Diana were reportedly only together for less than a month, their relationship made headlines the world over. But how did Princess Diana and Dodi Fayet meet in the first place?
Born in 1955 to billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed and his first wife Samira Khashoggi, Emad El-Din Mohammed Abdel Mena’em Fayed, known as Dodi, was an Egyptian film producer. Fayed was considered somewhat of a playboy and was rumoured to have dated film stars including Julian Roberts, Winona Ryder, and Brooke Shields, as well as singer Nancy Sinatra.
Details of Dodi and Diana’s first meeting are rather scarce. Per Town & Country though, they first at a polo match in 1986 while Diana was still married to Charles. According to The Independent, the match was held at Windsor Castle and Charles and Fayed played on opposing teams. Whether they exchanged words or even had a conversation is not known.
The pair met for a second time in July 1997, after Fayed’s father invited Diana and her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, to be guests on his luxury yacht in St Tropez. Fayed was engaged to American model Kelly Fisher at the time, and the couple were staying in Paris. The film producer was reportedly “summoned” to join his father and Diana on the yacht, and left Fisher behind. She later flew out to stay on another boat, to which Vanity Fair alleged that Fayed was playing up to his playboy image by romancing Diana and Fisher simultaneously.
On returning to England from this trip, Diana reportedly broke things off with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, whom she’d been covertly dating for months. The royal was back on the yacht in August and made headlines after they were photographed kissing by The Sunday Mirror. Fisher filed a lawsuit against her fiancé, for leaving her at the altar, which she later dropped following his tragic end.
