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Tabloids reduce Di's Dodi from playboy to cad
Fayed to fight model's allegations of two-timing
August 15, 1997
Web posted at: 11:40 p.m. EDT (0340 GMT)LONDON (CNN) -- Just days after the British reading public was treated to tantalizing photos of the kiss seen 'round the world, Princess Diana's alleged new love, Dodi Fayed, has seen his tabloid profile go from dashing playboy to, well, a bit of cad.
"You're a Dodi rotten cheat," blared the Mirror. "Dodi two timed me with Diana," screamed The Sun. Even the toney Times got into the act with a front-page story on the latest royal romantic twist.
What's causing this sensation are allegations made by American model Kelly Fisher, who held a tearful press conference in Los Angeles Thursday to claim that Fayed had proposed marriage to her -- then dumped her for Princess Diana. To buttress her case, she displayed a large sapphire and diamond ring.
Fisher says she found out about her alleged fiancee's alleged double-dealing when she saw photos last weekend of Diana and Fayed allegedly kissing about a yacht in the Mediterranean. She has filed a breach-of-contract suit against him.
But Friday, Fayed, a 41-year-old Egyptian millionaire, began to fight back. A spokeswoman for his family, Pat Kingsley, said Fayed would answer the lawsuit next week and deny all of her charges.
He admits knowing Fisher but says he was never engaged to her. As for the ring, a family friend told Reuters, "Dodi gives girls presents."
But this story appears to have legs. Britain's News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun and the News of the World, announced they had bought the rights to Fisher's story, including photographs and videos of her with Fayed.
In its Saturday edition, The Sun showed Fayed and Fisher arm in arm aboard one of his family's yachts. Inside was a telephone poll in which readers voted five-to-one for "Di to dump Dodi." Readers were invited to send in humorous limericks, dubbed "Di and Dodi odes."
The News of the World is scheduled to print the first installment of Fisher's tell-all tale on Sunday.
Meanwhile, as the headlines blare, Princess Diana is not in Britain to read them. She took off for a holiday in Greece Friday -- aboard a jet owned by Fayed's father.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related story:
- As tabloids tell it, Diana practically married - August 11, 1997
Related sites:
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- The Diana Years - People Magazine
- British Monarchy Official Site - Diana Information
- (Unauthorized) Princess Diana Page
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