had a secret child. His
daughter, Marni, was nine months old when Mr Fayed died in the Paris car
crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, her mother claimed to the
Observer yesterday.
Marni, whose photograph is said to bear a striking resemblance to Mr
Fayed, was born in an American hospital in November 1996, according to her
mother, Diane Holliday,
a 36-year-old British hotel consultant.
Ms Holliday initially handed her baby over for adoption in the US but
has now hired a London lawyer, whose clients have included the Duchess of
York and Sarah Brightman, in an attempt to win her return.
Her
solicitor, Douglas Alexiou,
said in a statement to the Observer: "I am instructed by my client to
confirm that she is the mother of the child. I have the birth certificate in
front of me and the father is the late deceased Dodi al-Fayed. I am
satisfied that the instructions are correct."
The battle over Marni has become the latest chapter in the long-running
feud between Mohammed al-Fayed, Dodi's father, and his bitter rival,
Tiny
Rowland. Scotland Yard is investigating allegations arising from the claim.
Dodi was Mohammed al-Fayed's eldest son, so his daughter - if paternity
is proved - could be an heir to the Harrods fortune.
Ms Holliday claims that she had a series of meetings with Dodi's father
at which he expressed an interest in bringing the child back to Britain, but
that she has fallen out with him. "He has no chance of getting her," she
said yesterday.
She has also talked to Mr Rowland, who has been involved in a 13-year
feud with Mr Fayed over control of the Knightsbridge store.
Mr Rowland told the Observer: "She told me a long story about Dodi
and how he was the father of her baby who was born on 20 November 1996, in
America. She said Dodi asked her to have an abortion. The baby was adopted."
Mr Rowland said he believed there was DNA evidence to prove Dodi was the
father. There is now a dispute between
Ms
Holliday and Mr Rowland, who has made a complaint to the police.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said yesterday: "We can confirm that police are
carrying out an investigation into an alleged financial deception in London
in December last year. The investigation was launched two weeks ago."
Ms Holliday denies doing wrong. She says: "Fayed and Tiny are both waging
a war against each other and I'm stuck in the middle of it. They are just
using me... I don't want money, I don't want anything to do with them, I
just want to be left alone."
Friends of Ms Holliday, who also has two teenage children, say she met
Dodi at the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1995. At the time she was separated from
her husband pending a divorce. In the next five months, there were frequent
meetings at Dodi's Paris and Mayfair apartments and her former home in
Bracknell, Berkshire. In July 1996 she discovered she was five months
pregnant and broke the news to Dodi. Her friends deny Dodi wanted an
abortion at first but say he went along with her wish for one. However, Ms
Holliday later decided not to go through with it. Without telling Dodi, she
travelled to the US, where an agency arranged the adoption.
Marni was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. After three days, Ms Holliday
handed her over for adoption. She was told she would become liable for the
hospital fees if she did not do so. She avoided contact with Dodi after
returning to Britain, but during the publicity over his romance with
Princess Diana in July 1997 she told him she had not gone through with the
abortion. The two agreed to meet in September when he would have returned
from his holiday with Diana. But Dodi died in the car crash on 31 August.
Ms Holliday has told friends she contacted the Fayed family after the
funeral because she wanted to visit Dodi's grave. Subsequently she organised
DNA tests for her child which are said to confirm that Dodi was the father.
Ms Holliday now lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She says she decided
to give up the baby at a time when she could not cope. "I became pregnant at
the worst time in my life. I didn't want my daughter and mother to know
about the baby, so I went to the States to have her and then I got her
adopted. Now I'm trying to get her back."
