Mohamed Al Fayed: French victims call for investigation

Ms Lejeune said: “A lot of people could have known what happened (at the Ritz). Some of them couldn’t speak out and I can understand that. But others maybe tried to help Al Fayed to commit his crimes. So that’s why it is very important to identify them.”

The Ritz hotel, which is still owned by the Al Fayed family, has only made one brief statement since the BBC documentary aired, in which it did not address any specific allegations but said it “strongly condemns any form of behaviour that does not align with the values of the establishment.”

The hotel, which is located beside the French Justice Ministry in Place Vendome in the heart of the capital, remains a Paris landmark. It is perhaps best known in recent decades as the place where Princess Diana ate her last meal before her death, in a car beside her partner – Dodi Al Fayed, Mohamed’s son – on 31 August 1997.

Ms Svensson said her decision to speak out had brought her “much joy,” adding that many of Al Fayed’s victims were now in their 50s and are “at a point in life where we’re able to muster the courage” and “don’t want our daughters and grandchildren” to suffer similar abuse.