No longer one of the many draws to Harrods, the statue of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed will be removed.
The statue, called Innocent Victims, was erected in the department store after the death of Diana and Dodi in 1997 by Dodi’s father, Mohamed Al-Fayed who was the owner of the store at the time.
Harrods was sold in May 2010 for a reported £1.5 billion to the Qatari Royal Family at which time Mr Al-Fayed asked that the memorial be kept in place.
The new owners have told the Evening Standard that they have reached the decision to remove the statue which shows Diana and Dodi reaching towards a seagull and return it to Mr Al-Fayed.
This decision has been reached after the news that Princes William and Harry will be placing a new statue of their mother in the public gardens at Kensington Palace.
Managing Director at Harrods, Michael Ward said: “We are very proud to have played our role in celebrating the lives of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed at Harrods and to have welcomed people from around the world to visit the memorial for the past twenty years.
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While still under Mr Al-Fayed’s ownership, Harrods cut all commercial links with the Royal Family in 2000. All Royal Warrants were removed from the storefront and from the store’s vans after 62 years.
I’ll bet everyone touched by this tragedy welcomes the relocation of these memorials to places other that a retail environment.
And perhaps in the future Harrods will regain their Royal Warrant.