The widow of the disgraced pedophile Rolf Harris does not know that he died of her dementia.
According to the Australian newspaper Daily Telegraph, 91-year-old Alwen, for whom Harris begged his daughter Bindi to look after him in his last moments, is unaware that her husband died earlier this month after succumbing to neck cancer at age 93.
It is believed Harris told his daughter to “take care of your mother” while speaking through a feeding tube in the days before his passing at his home in Berkshire, England, on May 10.
“I always believed that we would last longer together, but if I go first, promise me that you will take good care of your mother,” he said.
Alwen is believed to still be living in their £7 million mansion in Bray, Berkshire. She is currently receiving 24-hour nursing care.
Before his death, Harris had celebrated his 65th wedding anniversary with Alwen, who was always defiantly by his side alongside their daughter – even after being jailed in 2014 for abusing young girls between 1968 and 1986.
Rolf Harris with wife Alwen in their garden in Berkshire, where she receives 24-hour nursing care as she is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease
Alwen, for whom Harris begged his daughter Bindi to look after him in his final moments, is unaware that her husband passed away earlier this month
A source close to the family said the former TV entertainer begged his only child Bindi to take care of her mother who is receiving 24-hour nursing care as she is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease (a 1967 photo from Rolf Harris, Alwen and their daughter Bindi)
It is believed that Harris told his daughter to “take care of your mother” while speaking through a feeding tube in the days before his death
Alwen is believed to still be living in their £7 million mansion in Bray, Berkshire. She is currently receiving 24-hour nursing care
Harris was convicted of a series of assaults, including one of an eight-year-old seeking an autograph, two girls in their early teens, and a range of abuse from his daughter’s boyfriend over 16 years, starting when she was just 13.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for 12 sexual assaults against four underage girls between 1968 and 1986, but Alwen refused to publicly support her husband.
In 2017, while still in prison, the disgraced entertainer went on trial for a second time, charged with four assaults against three teenage girls.
He denied the charges and was found not guilty after the jury failed to agree on a verdict.
After the acquittal, his attorney read a statement on behalf of Harris that he wanted his client to spend his remaining time with his wife.
He was released in May 2017 after spending three years in HM Prison Stafford.
The couple met in the early 1950s at an art school in Kennington, south London, before marrying in 1958 at St Saviour’s Church in Paddington.
The couple’s latest photos show the couple smiling as Alwen wears a pink coat and slippers, while Harris puts his arm around her and holds their family dog’s paw.
Best known for the hits Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Jake The Peg, as well as a string of children’s TV hits, Harris painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Rolf and Alwen Harris pictured on their wedding day
Rolf Harris (second from left) and his wife Alwen Hughes (second from right) were recluses and rarely left their home in Bray, Berkshire
Years before his 2014 conviction, Harris was given the honor of painting a portrait of the late Queen to mark her 80th birthday
Rolf Harris’ is pictured with a dog at the RSPCA Animal Hospital in Putney, UK
He was the face of British Paints for over three decades before being dumped by the brand when he was arrested.
He struggled to speak after cancerous tumors grew on his neck following his release from prison. He was fed through a tube before his death and was seen in a wheelchair outside the house.
Harris has already been cremated after he passed away on May 10. It has since emerged that a private ambulance was parked outside the property on Thursday, May 11, which departed around 6 p.m.
Harris had not spoken publicly since his release from prison in 2017, but issued a statement in the recently released book Rolf Harris: The Defense Team’s Special Investigator Reveals the Truth Behind the Trials by pprivate investigator, author and former police officer William Merritt.
“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 underwent – it’s easier to judge and compare me to people like Savile and Glitter,” said Harris.
“I was convicted of crimes I did not commit in my first trial. That is not just my opinion, but the opinion of the Court of Appeal that overturned one of my convictions. I had already served the prison sentence at the time of the appeal.
“I changed my legal team after the first trial, and I was told if the truth was out there, William (Merritt) would find it and he did.
“The evidence he found proved my innocence before two successive juries.
“I would be in jail serving a sentence for crimes I didn’t commit if it weren’t for William’s investigation.
“The injustice I feel is hard to put into words.”