Since the prosecution had no proof, Mohamed Al Fayed's daughter was exonerated of robbing her brother of his phone. The 39-year-old Camilla Fayed previously entered a not guilty plea to the May 18, 2020, robbery of Omar Fayed's £1,900 iPhone in the gym of the family's Grade I listed home, Barrow Green Court, close to Oxted in Surrey.

In connection with the same alleged event, she was charged with one count of robbery along with her husband, Mohamad Esreb, 44, Matthew Littlewood, 35, and Andrew Bott, 52.

At the start of a hearing at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, Mr. Littlewood denied the count, while Mr. Esreb and Mr. Bott entered not guilty pleas to the charge during a hearing in May.

A trial was due to start in February next year but on Wednesday the prosecution offered no evidence in respect of all the defendants.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC told the court: “I advised the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) on quite a number of issues and ultimately the decision was made due to a combination of factors.”

Ms Marshall said there were difficulties around “material provided directly from the complainant himself”.

Judge Patricia Lees said: “In those circumstances then the court will enter not guilty verdicts in respect of each defendant.

“As far as they are concerned they are discharged from the court.”

Ms Fayed, of Park Lane, central London, did not attend the hearing on Wednesday but Mr Esreb, also of Park Lane, Mr Littlewood, of Haydock Road, Colburn, North Yorkshire, and Mr Bott, of Coppice Wood, County Durham, appeared via a video link.

Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed died last year at the age of 94.

After his death, allegations emerged accusing the late businessman of sexually abusing women, many of which had been employees at Harrods.