Mohamed Al Fayed slims down

Last updated at 21:18 25 November 2006


If you think you haven't seen so much of Mohamed Al Fayed just lately, you're right.

The Harrods owner has always been a larger-than-life figure, with an appetite to match. But recently the controversial Egyptian-born businessman has been looking decidedly slimline.

Maybe, as a Muslim, he has been a little over-zealous in his commitment to Ramadan, the month when fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset.

Perhaps he has laid off the tempting treats on offer in his own store's famous food hall.

Or, maybe he has been exercising - Harrods helpfully offers to 'design and install gym equipment in your own home, with a fitness instructor to devise a training schedule specifically for you'. Whatever the reason, when he stepped out at the Casino Royale premiere in London, he appeared to have lost at least two stone.

Mr Al Fayed, 73, has appointed his son Omar to the Harrods board and as a director of ten subsidiary companies, prompting speculation that the 19-year-old is being groomed for a leading role in his father's business empire, which includes Fulham Football Club and the Ritz hotel in Paris.

A spokesman for Mr Al Fayed said: "He is in rude health and as we speak is at the football.

"He has a very healthy lifestyle, enjoys a glass of wine at night and likes the odd glass of whisky. He is in great shape for a man of his age."

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