Mohamed Al Fayed abuse scandal: Kristina Svensson becomes first to file complaint in France

For the past week, attention in the Mohamed Al Fayed scandal has focused on the women who claim they were assaulted and raped by him while working in London. Now, the spotlight is shifting to Paris.

Kristina Svensson, who worked at Al Fayed’s prestigious Ritz hotel, will be the first victim to file a complaint in France. She was hired as Al Fayed’s Executive Assistant at the Paris Ritz in June 1998, just nine months after Princess Diana and her lover, Al Fayed’s son Dodi, died in a car crash. The couple had spent their final hours together dining at the Ritz.

Sharing her full story for the first time, Kristina reveals that despite Al Fayed’s devastation over his son’s death, his grief did not stop his “violent” and “perverted” behavior.

Now, a French lawyer is urging victims who were abused by Al Fayed at the Paris Ritz, his Paris home, his property in St Tropez, or on his yacht, to come forward.

Anne-Claire Le Jeune is preparing to ask the Paris prosecution service to launch a preliminary investigation into Al Fayed’s actions in France, as well as any co-conspirators, enablers, or other perpetrators who may still be alive.

“We need to know if there were people working with Al Fayed in France who knew about the abuses and kept silent,” she told the Mail. “It is important to have a full investigation.”

So far, more than 150 victims have come forward in the UK, sharing shocking accounts of abuse and rape, and Kristina’s story shares chilling similarities.

Of Swedish-American descent, Kristina was 30, blonde, and blue-eyed when she was hired to work at the Paris Ritz by the hotel’s President.

For the first few weeks, she didn’t meet Al Fayed personally, but much of her role involved handling information related to Diana and Dodi’s deaths, fielding calls from investigators, lawyers, journalists, and even psychics.

Living near Pont de l’Alma, where the tragic accident occurred, Kristina recalls hearing the crash and the police sirens in August 1997.