Survivors of abuse at the hands of billionaire Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have protested outside the department store in London.
The survivors said they are “being treated as an inconvenience” and that Harrods’ “silence and delay” is harming them further.
They were joined by MPs from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Survivors of Fayed and Harrods and other allies as they stood behind a large campaign banner and handed out leaflets.
Labour MP Dave Robertson and Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain, co-chairs of the APPG, said Harrods wants to “wash their hands of this scandal”.
The demonstration marks two years since a documentary exposing allegations of rape and sexual abuse against Al Fayed aired on the BBC.
Two years on, more than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have now been made against Al Fayed and other perpetrators linked to him, dating between 1977 and 2014 – including sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
The Metropolitan Police is dealing with at least 159 victims who contacted it directly, including 21 who came forward before Al Fayed’s death in 2023 at the age of 94.
The investigation, known as Operation Cornpoppy, was launched in November 2024 and is looking at people who may have facilitated or enabled Al Fayed’s crimes.
Seven people have been questioned under caution: four women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 80s, and three men in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
The protest was organised by the group Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors, whose co-chairs – Jen Mills and Lindsay Mason – said they “are still being made to wait”.
Ms Mills and Ms Mason said: “This gathering is about survivors standing together and making themselves impossible to ignore.
“Make no mistake: this is Britain’s Epstein – comfortably the largest abuse scandal perpetrated by one individual in this country, and the largest corporate sexual abuse scandal in the world.
“More than 500 survivors have now come forward, and every one of them deserves to be treated as a human being whose life and experience matter.
“Two years after the documentary, survivors are still being made to wait and are still being treated as an inconvenience to be managed.
“Harrods and the Fayed Estate continue to argue with one another while the people who were actually harmed are left to carry the cost.
“Harrods’ continued silence and delay are not neutral; survivors experience them as further contempt.
“We will continue raising our voices and intensifying public and political pressure until survivors receive the answers, accountability and respect they have been denied. We are not going away.”
While survivors have reported experiences related to a number of other organisations and properties – such as Park Lane, the Ritz Paris and Fulham FC – Harrods has become the most prominent symbol of the abuse.
The demonstration comes just days after a law firm representing at least 275 survivors, KP Law, said the total compensation awarded could reach between £100 million and £150 million.
MPs Mr Robertson and Ms Chamberlain, who attended the vigil, said: “It is always a privilege to stand with survivors in their fight for justice.
“Harrods want to wash their hands of this scandal — they claim their compensation scheme is redress enough.
“We know that isn’t the case. Most survivors have not engaged with Harrods’ scheme, because they don’t trust it.
“The company still has serious questions to answer about what its staff — some still employed at the firm today — knew about the trafficking network operating within its walls.
“The APPG looks forward to putting those questions to Harrods directly.”
Keaton Stone, husband of survivor Sophia Stone and the investigator whose work led to the BBC documentary in 2024, said those protesting outside Harrods “represent hundreds more who cannot be here in person”.
He said: “The documentary was the first public result of an investigation I began in 2018 after my wife, Sophia, told me what she had suffered while working for Fayed at Harrods.
“I investigated it alone for years before taking my findings to the BBC, and that investigation continues today.
“What began with one woman finding the courage to speak has now brought together more than 500 survivors around the world.
“Those able to stand outside Harrods at this gathering represent hundreds more who cannot be here in person.
“I stand with them in making clear that Harrods cannot use silence and delay to erase what happened. I will continue pursuing the evidence, the enablers and the unanswered questions wherever they lead.”
