The 37-year-old, who is the daughter of England football legend Paul Gascoigne, had visited the luxury department store in Knightsbridge with her parents when she was growing up and said Al Fayed would be "charming" and bring them gifts. Speaking publicly about it for the first time on The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee, she said this meant by the time she joined Harrods aged 16 she felt "safe" in his presence.
However, when she started working for the Egyptian businessman she claimed he would grope her and force her to kiss him during their weekly meetings.
"I just didn't really know what to do, he came in and then he sat me down on the sofa... he got his privates out and got my hands and was trying to manoeuvre them on his parts. "When that didn't work he was trying to force my head on to his lap. "And I don't know how but I managed to wiggle away.
A string of allegations against Al Fayed have emerged since the release of an investigation by the BBC. He died last year aged 94. The Metropolitan Police said it had recorded 60 allegations against Al Fayed since the BBC documentary, including claims of rape and sexual assault. Those are in addition to the 21 women who went to the police between 2005 and 2023 with sex crime allegations against the businessman.
Gascoigne also said Al Fayed would make derogatory comments about her father, whose mental health and addiction problems are well documented, when he allegedly started grooming her shortly before she joined Harrods. She continued: "[Al Fayed] used to tell me how much of a bad father my dad was because he used to come into the store drunk, and he used to tell me [my father] was an embarrassment." She said Al Fayed told her she should see himself as a "father figure" instead and she felt a "false sense of security with him early doors".
However, when she started working for the Egyptian businessman she claimed he would grope her and force her to kiss him during their weekly meetings.
"I just didn't really know what to do, he came in and then he sat me down on the sofa... he got his privates out and got my hands and was trying to manoeuvre them on his parts. "When that didn't work he was trying to force my head on to his lap. "And I don't know how but I managed to wiggle away.
A string of allegations against Al Fayed have emerged since the release of an investigation by the BBC. He died last year aged 94. The Metropolitan Police said it had recorded 60 allegations against Al Fayed since the BBC documentary, including claims of rape and sexual assault. Those are in addition to the 21 women who went to the police between 2005 and 2023 with sex crime allegations against the businessman.
Gascoigne also said Al Fayed would make derogatory comments about her father, whose mental health and addiction problems are well documented, when he allegedly started grooming her shortly before she joined Harrods. She continued: "[Al Fayed] used to tell me how much of a bad father my dad was because he used to come into the store drunk, and he used to tell me [my father] was an embarrassment." She said Al Fayed told her she should see himself as a "father figure" instead and she felt a "false sense of security with him early doors".
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