Latest news with #RolfHarris
Wales Online
21-05-2025
- Wales Online
Rolf Harris's widow Alwen Hughes left £4million in her will
Rolf Harris's widow Alwen Hughes left £4million in her will The sculptor died a year after her husband Rolf Harris and wife Alwen Hughes The widow of disgraced TV star, Rolf Harris, left nearly £4million in her will, documents show. Alwen Hughes died aged 92 last August, one year after the jailed entertainer's death. The Welsh sculptress and jeweller married Harris in 1958 and stayed with him after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls. Harris died aged 93 in May 2023. Hughes, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, died from a stroke after suffering from vascular dementia. Now documents show her estate was worth £3,975,950, reduced to a net value of £3,840,532 after deductions. It was left to the administration of Ian John Sydenham of Manchester-based law firm DWF. Her complex will dated July 2018, before Rolf Harris' death, shows she had included him in it. It also revealed that after his death their daughter, Ava Reeves, became the main beneficiary. The sculptress and jeweller married Harris in 1958 and remained with her husband after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls. Harris died aged 93 on May 10 2023 of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age', according to his death certificate. Article continues below Fifteen months after his death, Hughes died on August 15, 2024, from a stroke after suffering with the fragility of old age and vascular dementia, according to a death certificate obtained by The Mirror. The Windsor and Maidenhead Register Office confirmed her death was registered with them. Harris was 84 when a jury at Southwark Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault involving victims as young as seven or eight, in July 2014. He was sentenced to five years and nine months. In May 2017 Harris was released on licence. In the same month he was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied. Article continues below Later that year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal. He was one of the most popular and talented entertainers of his generation until he was exposed as a paedophile and serial sexual predator. More distant relations were also included in Hughes's will. In 2023, it was reported Ava had changed her name in a bid to cut ties with the disgraced entertainer's legacy. The now 61-year-old, who formerly went by the name Bindi Harris, became Ava Reeves. She is the couple's only child. A source close to the family said she had changed her name to be taken seriously in the art world.
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Widow of sex fiend Rolf Harris' jaw-dropping will
Rolf Harris' widow, who stood by the disgraced entertainer after he was exposed as a serial sex offender, left a huge sum of money in her will, it has been revealed. Alwen Hughes died in August aged 92 — just over a year after the disgraced entertainer died of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age', according to his death certificate. Hughes, a Welsh sculptress and jeweller who married Harris in 1958 and remained with him after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls, died of a stroke after suffering vascular dementia.. Her will — written in 2018, after Harris' fall from grace — included provision for him to have a slice of her whopping $8.2 million estate, should she have died first, according to The Sun. Given Harris died first, the bulk of the estate now goes to their daughter Ava Reeves, formerly known as Bindi, with other relatives also set to benefit. Harris himself left a substantial estate behind, totalling $33 million, most of which was also left to Reeves. Rolf Harris and Alwen Hughes with daughter Bindi. Credit: JOHN CAMPBELL / WA News Perth-born Harris had a glittering international career across music, art and television and was considered a national treasure before it all came crashing down amid revelations he was a serial sexual abuser. Harris was famous for songs including Tie Me Kangaroo Down and Jake the Peg and was a talented artist — painting Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday portrait. Rolf Harris officially unveils his oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace in 2005. Credit: Chris Jackson / Getty Images Rolf Harris was a serial sexual abuser. Credit: Supplied / TheWest Harris was 84 when a UK jury unanimously found him guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault involving victims as young as seven or eight, in July 2014. He was sentenced to five years and nine months. In May 2017 Harris was released from jail and in the same month was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied. Later that year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal. — with AAP.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Rolf Harris's widow left staggering fortune to their daughter on her death following dementia battle aged 92 - after her paedophile husband hid his wealth to avoid paying compensation to his victims
Paedophile Rolf Harris 's widow Alwen left a fortune of just under £4 million to their daughter who stood by the children's TV star while he was exposed as a sex offender. Details of her will show Alwen Harris, who died in August last year aged 92, left £3,840,532 to Ava Reeves, who used to be known as Bindi Harris. The will dated in 2018 before Harris died, would have seen the estate go to her husband had he been alive, but the amount appears to confirm suspicions that the disgraced former children's entertainer 'shielded' his fortune to avoid legal claims from his victims, even after his death. He died in May 2023 aged 93 following a battle with neck cancer. At the time of his death, reports suggested he might leave around £16million to Alwen and daughter Bindi, 60. However, court documents released at the time of his death showed his assets to be worth £438,802. Expenses then brought that sum down to zero. It was claimed Harris purposely reduced his fortune to prevent his victims from seeking financial compensation after his death. Ex-detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who played a role in convicting the disgraced performer, said at the time: 'This is yet another disgrace. 'He has obviously planned to get rid of money and assets and there is no way he'd have actually been penniless,' he said. 'He had amassed a huge amount of wealth and I would assume he has squirreled it away to avoid victims making claims on it, even after his death. 'The man had no shame.' Ava stood by her father along with Alwen, while he was on trial for sexual of underage girls in 2014, even though one of Harris's victims was a close childhood friend. The will contains a codicil, or revision, which was made in March 2022, leaving Ava as the sole family executor of the will and removing Rolf Harris's sister Jennifer Harris as a co-executor with Ava. Harris was barely seen in public after leaving prison in 2017 retreating to his Thames-side mansion, in Bray, Berkshire, for his final years. He died after reportedly falling 'gravely sick' with neck cancer, with most of his £16 million fortune going to Ava/Bindi as well. The family home in Bray is now up for sale with a price tag of £4 million. According to the Land Registry, the owners are still listed as Rolf and Alwen Harris. Last month Ava was seen emptying the property. A source told the Mirror: 'She wants to sell it, but she doesn't desperately need the money and is in no rush, so she's determined to hold out for a good price.' She reportedly changed her name to Ava in order to get away from the legacy of her father's name and to build her own career as an artist. Harris was brought to justice in 2014, in one of the prosecutions brought by the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree - an investigation into historical behaviour by celebrities. Drama surrounded each day of his first trial at Southwark Crown Court. His family attempted to put on a united front, holding hands together for the cameras as they apparently travelled to court together. But this was later labelled an elaborate show by the prosecution - it turned out his daughter Bindi was joining her father for the last few moments of the journey into court. Harris's appearance in the witness box was, in part, a reminiscence about his long career as a singer and cartoonist that was designed to entertain the jury. 'In 1959,' asked his barrister Sonia Woodley KC, 'did you invent something called the wobbleboard?' Harris said he had done. He went on to sing a few lines of his 1965 hit Jake the Peg. But such semi-comic moments could not diminish the compelling testimony of women who had got to know Rolf Harris when they were young. His main victim had known Harris and Bindi well from childhood. The court heard that Bindi's friend was first abused by Rolf Harris on a holiday to Hawaii, when she was 13. Over time, he groomed her and repeatedly abused her until she was in her mid-20s. '[His victim] had been totally controlled by Rolf Harris,' prosecutor Sasha Wass, KC, told the court. 'He knew that he could have access to her intimately whether there were people around or not.' By the time she was 29, she had developed a drink problem, which she blamed on Harris's abuse. At this point the woman told her family what he had done to her. The family's furious reaction culminated in a visit by Harris to the woman's village in the English countryside. 'She said she was disgusted by what he had done,' Wass said, 'and she hit him about the head.' The woman then made him walk around the village, knowing he would be recognisable in public. Wass said: 'She continued to berate him, not caring about the embarrassment.' In court, Harris's defence case was that the abuse she said took place when she was under age had never happened, and that sex between them took place later and was consensual. After the confrontation in the village Harris never spoke to the woman again, but wrote a pleading letter to her father: 'I would like to talk to you to apologise for betraying your trust and for unwittingly so harming your darling [daughter]. I know that what I did was wrong but we are, all of us, fallible and oh how I deluded myself. Please forgive me, love Rolf.' Others knew Harris only fleetingly. Four women were named on the charge sheet. His conviction for the indecent assault of one of them was overturned on appeal. More women gave evidence about his character. There was a family friend who said Harris had told her in 1969, when she was 12: 'Come here, I want to be the first one to give you a tongue kiss,' and did so, terrifying her. A dancer from New Zealand said Harris had groped her as a 17-year-old in 1970; a holidaymaker said Harris took her to the back room of a Maltese bar the same year and assaulted her. A production worker on an Australian TV show of Harris's, Tony Porter, flew to London to tell the trial about the time he saw the entertainer grope a make-up artist. As he did so he 'made a lascivious noise with his mouth', said Porter. One woman fought back tears as she recounted the story of how she suffered sexual assault at the hands of Harris when she was aged 14 and in London on a theatre trip in 1986. Harris was jailed for nearly six years for 12 indecent assaults against four girls - including one aged just seven or eight. Sentencing Mr Justice Sweeney said Harris, 84, had taken advantage of his celebrity status and had shown 'no remorse'. One victim said the abuse had taken away her 'childhood innocence'.
The Sun
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Rolf Harris' wife who stood by him despite paedo conviction left an eye-watering amount in will after death aged 93
THE widow of disgraced TV star paedo Rolf Harris left nearly £4 million in her will, documents show. Alwen Hughes died aged 92 last August - one year after the jailed entertainer's death. 3 3 3 The Welsh sculptress and jeweller married Harris in 1958 and stayed with him after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls. Harris died aged 93 in May 2023 from neck cancer. It comes after who inherited Harris' £16 million fortune was revealed. Hughes, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, died from a stroke after suffering from vascular dementia. Now documents show her estate was worth £3,975,950, reduced to a net value of £3,840,532 after deductions. It was left to the administation of Ian John Sydenham of Manchester-based law firm DWF. Her complex will dated July 2018 - before Harris' death - shows she had included him in it. It also revealed that after his death their daughter Ava Reeves became the main beneficiary. More distant relations were also included, as reported by NeedToKnow. Rolf Harris' wife Alwen Hughes dies aged 93 one year after paedo husband's death from neck cancer Best known for hits Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Jake The Peg, as well as a string of children's TV shows, Harris also painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Hughes stuck by her disgraced husband through the court proceedings and his subsequent jail term. Speaking shortly after Harris' 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.' Hughes attended every day of Harris' initial trial alongside their daughter Bindi - though it was later reported she changed her name to Ava Reeves in a bid to distance herself from her father. The paedophile served nearly three years in prison before being released on licence in 2017, and lived a reclusive life afterwards. In 2023, it was reported Ava had changed her name in a bid to cut ties with the disgraced entertainer's legacy. The now 61-year-old is the couple's only child. A source close to the family said she had changed her name to be taken serious in the art world. WHO WAS ROLF HARRIS? ROLF HARRIS died in May 2023, almost a decade after he was jailed for a a string of sex attacks on children. Prior to his crimes becoming public knowledge, the disgraced star was known for being a TV presenter, musician and artist. Harris was born on March 30, 1930, in Perth, Australia. His parents, Agnes and Cromwell, had emigrated there from their previous home in Cardiff, Wales. Harris showed an interest in art from a young age and was just 16 when a self-portrait he painted was exhibited in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He was also a keen swimmer as a youngster. In 1953 Harris, then aged 22, left Australia to move to England and a year later he landed a role presenting a children's art show on the BBC. Harris married Alwen Hughes, a Welsh sculptress and jeweller, while they were both art students in March 1958. He then returned to Australia to take on more TV work and start his music career. It was during this stint Down Under that he first began using his famous catchphrase - "Can you tell what it is yet?" - while on a promotional tour of Australia for Dulux. Harris returned to the UK in 1962 and re-recorded his hit Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport was a Top 10 hit in Australia, the UK, and the United States, and Harris even performed it with The Beatles. He went on to land a UK No1 with Two Little Boys in 1969 and a No7 hit with Stairway to Heaven in 1993. As well as becoming famous for his music, Harris became a popular television personality in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s thanks to his roles on The Rolf Harris Show, Rolf's Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital. In 2005 Harris, who lived in Bray in Berkshire for more than six decades before his death, painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Harris had one child, a daughter called Bindi, with his wife. In 2023 it was reported that she had changed her name to Ava Reeves in an attempt to distance herself from her dead father.
The Irish Sun
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Disgraced paedo Rolf Harris' £4million riverside mansion is quietly put up for sale 2 years after death
ROLF Harris' riverside mansion has been quietly put up for sale two years after his death. The Australian TV personality, musician and artist was Advertisement 5 Rolf Harris was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault in 2014 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire 5 Harris pictured with his wife, Alwen, and daughter, Bindi Credit: PA 5 Harris' riverside mansion in Berkshire has been put up for sale Credit: Doug Seeburg - The Sun Harris was found Some of his heinous crimes even took place inside his house, between 1968 and 1986. He has also been accused of sexually assaulting one of his daughters friends, who was between 13 and 19 at the time. The Advertisement read more in Rolf Harris Mayfair-based estate agents Benson International has it up for sale with an asking price of £4 million. A source told the "She wants to sell it, but she doesn't desperately need the money and is in no rush, so she's determined to hold out for a good price. Advertisement Most read in The Sun "Potential buyers have already begun viewings.' Harris died of neck cancer at the house aged 93 in May 2023. How paedo Rolf Harris went from beloved kids' entertainer to despised recluse who died without apology to victims Harris lived in the Riverside mansion for over six decades after rising to fame in his early 20s when he began performing a regular ten-minute cartoon drawing section in children's show Jigsaw. Advertisement The house was designed in line with his childhood house on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, where he learned to swim before becoming a national junior backstroke champion aged 15. It was renovated ahead of his release from jail in 2017, with workmen seen replacing a large patio at a cost of more than £10,000. The front drive, which is overlooked by a horsehead, was also dug up and the back garden was revamped. Speaking about the property, a Mirror source said: 'It's a massive plot in a very desirable area on the banks of the Thames, so there's bound to be interest. Advertisement 'But it remains to be seen if its past and notoriety may put some people off. 5 Bindi, Harris' daughter inherited the property - she was seen emptying it recently Credit: Splash News 5 Benson International is retailing the mansion for £4 million Credit: Doug Seeburg - The Sun 'Anyone who can afford the asking price clearly has plenty of money, so it's very likely they'll knock the current house down and build a new modern property on the land.' Advertisement Benson International describe themselves as a 'premium property specialist operating in the heart of London advising clients internationally with assets in the UK." Their website adds: 'We are a private office who have worked alongside clients with discretion for many years.' They were contacted for comment.
