Disgraced TV star Rolf Harris– who was best known for hit shows Rolf’s Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital – died last year aged 93 whilst living a quiet life away from the public eye.
But his dying words have been revealed more than a year on, after it was recently announced that his wife of 64 years died last month. Before his death, the Australian entertainer was caught up in allegations of historical sexual abuse involving indecent assaults on four teenagers between the years 1968 to 1986. He was arrested in 2013, which halted his success, and he served nearly three years of a five-year-nine-month sentence, before being released from prison in 2017 and reportedly living as a hermit whilst grappling with severe health issues.
He and wife Alwen spent their final days in a £5million river-side mansion in Berkshire, before Rolf succumbed to neck cancer and died on 10 May 2023. Last month, Alwen also died, aged 93, after suffering a stroke. During his final hours while surrounded by loved ones, Rolf is said to have made an emotional request to his 58-year-old daughter through a feeding tube.
The former TV star shared an expansive property with Welsh spouse Alwen (
Image: Getty Images)
Rolf was convicted for indecent assault on four teenagers (
Image: Getty Images)
His parting words were: “I always believed we would go on longer together but, if I go first, promise you’ll take good care of your mum.”
Alwen was reportedly battling Alzheimer’s Disease at the time, needed round-the-clock nursing care, and was seen using a wheelchair in her final months. The couple, who met at art school in Kennington in the early 1950s, tied the knot at St Saviour’s Church in Paddington in 1958.
Rolf was convicted of a series of sickening offences including assaults on an eight-year-old seeking an autograph, two girls in their early teens and a range of abuses of his daughter’s friend, starting when she was just 13 – crimes that had taken place over 16 years.
Speaking after Rolf’s conviction in 2014, singer Vince Hill said: “Alwen is very poorly. We’re all very worried about her. I don’t know if she will survive his prison term. She’s quite fragile. She suffers from arthritis and she’s had hip replacements and God knows what.”
In 2017, Rolf was put on trial for a second time, accused of four indecent assaults on three teenage girls. He denied the charges and was found not guilty after the jury failed to agree on a verdict. Following the verdict, his solicitor read out a statement on his behalf, revealing that Rolf wanted to spend the rest of his life with his wife.
“Whilst I am pleased that this is finally over, I feel no sense of victory – just relief,” he read. “I am 87 years old, my wife is in ill-health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together.”
Rolf was released from prison in May 2017 after carrying out three years of his sentence at HMP Stafford.
Source: Mirror UK
