Kevin Rego meets up with Mohammed Al Fayed, the man whose son Dodi, loved and four years ago died with Diana, Princess of Wales. A Savvy exclusive.

Mohammed Al Fayed, millionaire, owner of store Harrods and even better known as father of the man who died along with Princess Diana in a car crash, talks about the blonde whom not only gentlemen but simply everybody preferred. “Di” as Princess Diana was popularly known died four years ago, leaving England nearly paralyzed in its grief. The people’s princess had been close to Dodi Al Fayed after her marriage to Prince Charles broke up. Here, Dodi’s father, in an exclusive interview from London recaptures some of that compassion and spirit which characterized a princess in a fairy tale gone wrong.

How well did the Al Fayed family know Diana?

“I cherish the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was a close personal friend of my family and spent some of the happiest moments of her life in our company at my villa in the South of France in the summer before she and my son Dodi were murdered in Paris.”

What relationship did your son and Diana share?

“Diana’s relationship with Dodi lit up her life before they were both so cruelly taken away from us.”

What specifically brought Diana so close to ordinary people?

“Diana had a unique gift of showing how much she cared for simple, ordinary people and their suffering. She worked tirelessly with victims of AIDS and fearlessly led a worldwide campaign to get rid of landmines. She was always most relaxed and vivacious when she was off duty and far removed from the heavy, artificial burdens of state occasions.”

Did Diana ever have an intuition about the tragedy that was about to befall her?

“She had come to hate her married life as a virtual prisoner of the royal household and feared when she was set free that the forces of the British establishment would pursue her. Only shortly before her death she told me that she feared for her life. That fear was vindicated by the fatal assault on her life.”

“Diana had come to hate her married life as a virtual prisoner” — Al Fayed

Is anything being done to bring those who had allegedly caused their death to book?

“The happy future my son had offered Diana and she had accepted, was stolen from both. I shall not spare my considerable resources in my pursuit of those who were responsible.”