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Dodi Fayed Diamond Engagement Ring by Alberto Repossi
Dodi Fayed Diamond Engagement Ring by Alberto Repossi
Image from Daily Mail
Dodi al Fayed & Princess Diana's Diamond Engagement Ring
We hear that the latest inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana was shown CCTV of Dodi al Fayed buying a diamond engagement ring from a Paris jeweller, Alberto Repossi, intended for Princess Diana.
What astounded us was the reported price 115,000 French Francs, equivalent to about £11,500.

How Much?
Or should we ask "How little?"
When the average price of an engagement ring has recently been quoted as £1,289; it seems hard to believe that Dodi al Fayed, a millionaire jet-set playboy, was going to spend a mere £11,500!
We would have thought somebody with a profile as high as that of Dodi al Fayed, would have been looking at engagement rings in the £1 million price bracket or more.

Corner Shop
Any ambitious, hard-working, young man in the northern British provinces, whose dad owned a corner shop, could afford circa £11k, Dodi's father, the renowned and intrepid Mohammed al Fayed owns a corner shop called Harrods, which he paid £615 million for! He also owns a Bed and Breakfast in Paris called the Ritz Hotel, and his own football team, Fulham. Footballers can afford £1 million engagement rings. If the employees can afford it, what about the boss' son?

One Month's Salary?
For the past twenty years or so, De Beers have been urging British men to spend at least one months pay on their diamond engagement ring. They are lucky, as in the USA, the target figure is two months pay, and Japanese men wanting to impress their fianceés are advised to invest three month earnings.
We don't know how much al Fayed Junior used to earn, or whether he got an allowance from daddy, but whatever figures we guess at, the price stated for this ring sounds low in relation to its purpose.
According to various reports, Dodi was not sure his proposal would be accepted, in which case, would he not want to create the best possible impression, and let his intended know how big a commitment he was prepared to make in order to maximise his chance of acceptance?

Publicity Value
Even if Dodi was financially stretched, and up to the limit on his credit cards, surely his old man would have helped in out, especially in such a good cause? For Mohammed al Fayed, lending son Dodi £1 million or two, to help his son finance the purchase of a suitable ring, would have come straight back to him in the publicity value it would have generated.

Harrods?
Another strange bit about all this. As Harrods operates it own jewellery department, and a few big names designer concessions, we would have thought Mohammed was shrewd enough to ensure his son's engagement ring was bought from his own shop! (or at least one of his concessions). As we said above, the publicity value of this would probably instantly recouped its cost.
There is also a possible negative connotation here. If Dodi were indeed buying Diana an engagement ring, what does it say for Harrods if Dodi preferred to buy it elsewhere?

Queen of Hearts or Price of a Tart?
Some years back in time, we used to hear stories that wealthy arabs visiting London would be escorted by very attractive young women, and that these girls received lavish gifts in return. Perhaps nothing as crude and simple as money changed hands, and some of these girls may have been fishing for potential husbands, but the general consensus seemed to be that the expensive gifts, including diamond rings, were a payment for sexual and other services. Now we have no inside knowledge about the cost of high class call girls, apart from what we have seen and heard in the media, but £10k, give or take, might well be the going rate back in 1997 of the hire of one high class tart for a night or a weekend.
Diana was the Princess of Hearts, not the Queen of Tarts.
Could it be that the Repossi ring was intended as a gift to somebody else for services rendered or anticipated? An al Fayed might make a gift of this value to a reward an employee, a secretary or a personal assistant.

Our Conclusion
From all the above, we simply cannot believe that the Repossi ring was not being purchased as an intended engagement ring for Princess Diana.

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