Rolf Harris’ daughter has changed her name in a bid to cut ties with the disgraced entertainer’s toxic legacy.
Formerly Bindi Harris, the 59-year-old has now adopted the name Ava Reeves as she strives to build her career as an artist.
As Rolf’s only child, Bindi is believed to be a multi-millionaire following the disgraced TV star’s death earlier this year.
This was reported by a source close to the family The sun: ‘It’s clear that anything by Harris is virtually unsellable, so Bindi works under the pseudonym in an attempt to be taken seriously in the art world.
‘She is happy that galleries have started to acquire some of her pieces.’
Harris served three years in prison for a series of indecent assaults.
Rolf Harris’ daughter has changed her name in an attempt to cut ties with the disgraced entertainer’s toxic legacy (pictured together in 2014)
Formerly Bindi Harris, the 59-year-old has now adopted the name Ava Reeves as she strives to build her career as an artist (pictured together in 1967)
He died earlier this year of neck cancer and old age after spending the last six years following his release from prison as a near-recluse with his wife in their £5million riverside mansion in Bray, Berkshire.
News of the abuser’s death on May 10 and his subsequent secret cremation was revealed after it was registered with Windsor and Maidenhead Council, bringing closure to some of his victims.
In June 2014, Harris was convicted of 12 indecent assaults after a trial uncovered an avalanche of evidence showing his disturbing behavior towards women and girls.
The entertainer was convicted of abusing a close friend of his daughter over the course of 16 years, as well as an eight-year-old girl looking for an autograph and two girls in their early teens.
Harris had strongly denied the charges against him, which occurred between 1968 and 1986, but was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
Upon his release in 2017, he lived as a near recluse, with reports that he was suffering from neck cancer that left him unable to speak, and that he was seen in a wheelchair when he left home. A funeral director’s private ambulance was photographed outside his riverside home on May 11.
In a statement released by his lawyer at the time, his family said: “Rolf Harris recently passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, and has now been laid to rest. They ask that you respect their privacy. There will be no further comment.”
The cause of death was revealed as ‘metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the neck’ – the medical term for neck cancer – and ‘frailty of old age’.
After being diagnosed with neck cancer, Rolf Harris (pictured during the pandemic) could no longer talk or eat and required 24-hour care
His wife Alwen, 91, a jeweler and sculptor, is now in a wheelchair due to Alzheimer’s disease
Harris is survived by his grandson Marlon, 25, daughter Bindi, 59, and wife Alwen, 91, a jeweler and sculptor. She is in a wheelchair due to Alzheimer’s disease, but the couple, who married in 1958, lived together with the help of 24-hour care.
Harris’ health deteriorated in recent years and he was hospitalized during his time in prison when his diabetes spiraled out of control.
‘He is in poor health and has deteriorated rapidly. He can’t get out and when he does, it’s alone with his caregiver,” a neighbor said in 2019.
Harris had not spoken publicly since his release from prison in 2017, but issued a statement in William Merritt’s book Rolf Harris: The defense team’s special investigator reveals the truth behind the trials.
‘I understand that we live in the post-truth era and know that few will want to know what really happened during the three criminal trials I faced – it is easier to condemn me and compare me to people like Saville and Glitter,” Harris said.
‘I was convicted of crimes I did not commit during my first trial. That is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of the Court of Appeal, which overturned one of my convictions. At the time I appealed, I had already served my prison sentence.
“I changed my legal team after the first trial and I was told that if the truth came out, William (Merritt) would find it and he did.
“The evidence he found proved my innocence to two subsequent juries.
‘Without William’s investigation, I would be in prison serving a sentence for crimes I didn’t commit.
‘The injustice I feel is difficult to put into words.’