Heini Wathén

Heini Wathén-Fayed (née Wathén; born 24 February 1955) is a Finnish socialite and former model. She is the widow of Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed.^[1] She was an officer for The Ritz Hotel, London.^[2]

Heini Wathén
Heini Wathén in 1972
Born	(1955-02-24) 24 February 1955 (age 70) Hanko, Finland
Other names	Heini Wathén-Fayed
Occupation	Former model
Spouse	Mohamed Al-Fayed ​ ​ (m. 1985; died 2023)​
Children	4, including Omar Fayed

Modeling career

Heini Wathén signed with a modelling agency after winning several beauty pageants in Finland at 17 years old. She graduated from secondary school in 1975 and joined her sister in Paris as a model. She returned to Finland two years later to compete in the Miss Finland contest, but did not make it to the finals.^[1]

During the Miss Finland contest, Wathén met Dodi Fayed, who was looking for new models in Finland. Fayed arranged for Wathén to model for Pierre Balmain's fashion house.^[1]

Personal life

In Paris, Dodi Fayed introduced Wathén to his father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, who began a relationship with her. Al-Fayed soon invited Wathén to live with him on Park Lane in London. The couple married in 1985, thus Heini Wathén-Fayed became a stepmother to Dodi Fayed.^[1]

Wathén-Fayed has four children with Mohamed Al-Fayed.^[3][4][5][6]

Wathén-Fayed and Al-Fayed lived in Surrey and at a mansion in Westend, Espoo, Finland.^[1] Al-Fayed died on 30 August 2023, at the age of 94 in London.^[7]