Dodi Fayed’s ill-fated love affair with Princess Diana played out tragically in the public eye.
But few people know that the Egyptian billionaire romanced a stunning American model just before he began dating Diana in the summer of 1997.
Fayed and Kentucky-born Kelly Fisher were together for close to a year before he was linked to the princess.
Fisher claims that she and Fayed were even engaged before he suddenly ditched her for Diana — an allegation that was staunchly denied by Fayed’s famous father, Harrod’s owner Mohamed al-Fayed.
The Crown’s sixth season, released on Netflix earlier this week, documents the dramatic love triangle, with Fisher played by actress Erin Richards.
While Fayed and Diana were killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, Fisher is currently living a quiet life in South Carolina.
Below, a look at the the model’s rise to stardom and the lawsuit she filed following her nasty split from Fayed.
Fisher was born in Louisville, Kentucky and relocated to Canada as a child, according to Time magazine.
She kicked off her modeling career at the age of 16, before going on to grace the cover of Marie Clare magazine and walk the runway for high-end designers, including Armani.
Fisher was 30 years old and vacationing in Paris when she first locked eyes with Fayed, then aged 41.
The pair quickly fell in love, with Fisher later claiming the billionaire proposed to her after eight months of dating with a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. According to the model, she and Fayed were set to wed on Aug. 9, 1997.
But just one month before that date, Fayed fell in love with Princess Diana.
In July 1997 , Fayed’s father, the wealthy Mohamed Al-Fayed, invited Diana and her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, on his yacht, the Jonikal.
Soon after, the Sunday Mirror published photos of Fayed and Diana smooching on board the vessel.
After seeing the snapshots in the British tabloids, a stunned and jilted Fisher decided to sue Fayed for breach of contract and leaving her feeling emotionally wounded.
Her lawsuit — which was filed just days before Fayed and Dianas’ untimely deaths — claimed that Fayed gave her $500,000 to end her modeling career, but she apparently only received $60,000 of that sum.
After Fayed’s fatal car crash, Fisher tearfully dropped her suit, saying in a statement via her attorney Gloria Allred: “Out of respect for the tragedy, and tremendous loss the Fayed family has suffered, she has authorized me as her attorney, to dismiss her lawsuit against Mr Fayed. Although she does have the legal right to pursue the lawsuit against his estate after his death, she has voluntarily chosen not to exercise that right.”
She continued: “Kelly loved Dodi very much, and she is devastated by his loss, and that of Princess Diana. Nothing is more important than the life of a human being. In the light of this enormous tragedy, Kelly forgives Dodi for all of his past injustices against her.”
While all eyes were on Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on Sept. 7, 1997, Fayed was laid to rest at a smaller burial just days before.
Fisher was unable to attend his internment as she couldn’t fly to London in time.
Following Fayed’s death, Fisher largely disappeared from the spotlight.
She hit headlines again in 2007 when she appeared at an inquest into the deaths of Diana and Fayed.
“It’s just quite humiliating to sit here and try to prove to people that someone wanted to marry you, you know,” she stated at the time, expressing discomfort at being back in the public eye.
That same year, Fisher met a Russian-born pilot, Mikhail Movshina, while on safari in the Central African Republic. They subsequently lived together in Paris and the French Alps.
Fisher and Movshina later wed, and welcomed a daughter, Alexandra, in 2011.
Fisher now goes by the name Kelly Movshina. According to Time, she lives in Aiken, South Carolina, where she now works as a property developer.
Source link
