Mohamed Al Fayed, the late Egyptian-born tycoon and former owner of Harrods, allegedly spent decades spying on women customers as they undressed in changing rooms at the luxury Knightsbridge department store, according to bombshell revelations in a new book set to be released Thursday.
The book, titled The Monster of Harrods, features explosive claims from Al Fayed’s former bodyguard, known only as Biggie, who alleges that female customers and staff alike were unknowingly recorded via hidden surveillance cameras secretly installed throughout the store, including inside changing rooms and women's toilets.
“People don’t talk about this, there were cameras right up to the entrance and slightly inside the changing rooms used by Harrods customers,” Biggie stated. “If you were in a Harrods changing room during the Fayed era, there was a good chance that he was watching you.”
The surveillance, including phone tapping and personal monitoring, was allegedly orchestrated by Harrods' then-head of security, ex-Scotland Yard detective John Macnamara.
Biggie claimed Macnamara's security team monitored female customers and staff in real time, often prompted by Al Fayed's interest in particular women.
“The guys looked at the screens as if their lives depended on it,” Biggie said. “But they also realised many of Macnamara’s questions were about females who had caught Fayed’s eye, so there was a lot of sniggering as they watched women in changing rooms and toilets.”
Author Alison Kervin, who spent years researching the book and interviewed more than 60 witnesses, survivors, and former employees, described a Harrods under Al Fayed’s ownership as a place of constant, secret surveillance. She likened it to “living in the Truman Show”, with about 40 screens transmitting live footage from across the store around the clock.
One anonymous staff member, referred to as “the Engineer” due to his role in managing phone surveillance, confirmed the pervasive monitoring: “There were recording devices everywhere… everything that was transmitted was filed away. Al Fayed would ask to see or listen to certain recordings. No one was off-limits.”
Al Fayed, who owned Harrods from 1985 until its sale in 2010, died in 2023 at the age of 94. He was posthumously unmasked as a serial sexual predator, with more than 500 victims and witnesses coming forward in the past year. Despite mounting allegations during his lifetime, he never faced criminal prosecution.
Harrods issued a statement in response to the new claims, stating: “Nothing in our records suggests cameras existed in any staff or customer areas where personal privacy would have been compromised.”
However, the mounting testimony paints a deeply troubling picture of systemic privacy violations. Emma Jones, a human rights lawyer at Leigh Day representing several victims, said the revelations demand urgent scrutiny.
“The fact that there could be covert surveillance, CCTV, or any kind of recording in areas such as toilets and changing rooms beggars belief and is truly shocking. If true, this would have serious and far-reaching ramifications in terms of breaching people’s right to privacy.”