Inside last years of Rolf Harris’ widow Alwen Hughes
Rolf Harris‘ widow Alwen Hughes died refusing to believe that her husband was a paedophile and had the support of their friends and neighbours who told MailOnline today: ‘We will miss them both’.
Ms Hughes, who had dementia, has passed away aged 93 – fifteen months after her husband – and remained in their Thames-side mansion unable to get out of bed until suffering a fatal stroke.
Alwen never accepted that her Australian TV star husband was guilty of the 12 sex attacks on children as young as seven. He was jailed for just under six years and his wife of 65 years stood by him until his death in 2023.
The couple are survived by their only daughter Bindi, 60, who largely stood by her tarnished father, insisting he was a ‘flirt’ from a different generation, and also accompanied him to court during his trial each day.
Alwen stayed in their home in Bray in Berkshire, but could not leave the house that local estate agents expect to be sold off for millions. The property is in one of the UK’s most exclusive riverside locations and could be demolished and replaced with a new mansion.
One near-neighbour told MailOnline said: ‘It’s very sad to see her go but the past few years – she’s been bed bound and no quality of life. We will miss them both’.
Another person on the street said: ‘We heard she passed a few weeks ago and have seen the family this week emptying the house of personal belongings. It’s the end of an era really now they’ve both gone’.
Rolf and Alwen with their dog on the banks of the Thames where they lived for many years. Rolf died this year and Alwen in 2024
Rolf Harris with his wife Alwen and seven-months-old daughter Bindi at London Airport in 1962
Estate agents say they expect the home in Bray to be sold and perhaps even demolished
The couple share one daughter, Bindi, 58, and the family of three were seen walking into Southwark Crown Court together every day during Harris’ first trial in 2014
Local estate agent Brian Warren, from Warren Property Matters, said: ‘The property clearly going to be sold very soon and despite the high prices of neighbouring houses this one is going to be lucky to fetch £2million as in reality it needs to be completely knocked down and demolished.
‘It’s so old and obviously there’s a dark cloud over it as from when Rolf lived there’. He added: ‘It’s a prime riverside location crying it to be made into a new home’.
Alwen Hughes stood by Harris after he was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail in 2014 for 12 indecent assaults on four underage girls between 1968 and 1986.
Alwen, who had dementia and was previously seen in a wheelchair, spent her final days in the £5million riverside mansion they once shared in Bray, Berkshire.
Harris succumbed to neck cancer on May 10 last year, and is said to have told their only daughter, Bindi, to ‘look after your mum’ in a final intervention on his deathbed.
Her death certificate – obtained by The Mirror – states that she died from a stroke.
Alwen Hughes accompanies Rolf Harris as he leaves court in 2014 after being found guilty of numerous indecent assaults
Harris with Alwen in their garden in Berkshire, where she was receiving 24 hour nursing care
A 1967 picture of Harris, Alwen and their daughter Bindi
Rolf and Alwen Harris pictured on their wedding day in 1958 at St Saviour’s Church in Paddington. She is said to have chosen a poodle (pictured) as a bridesmaid
Harris reportedly begged his daughter Bindi, 58, to look after Alwen after he died on May 10 last year following 65 years of marriage.
‘I always believed we would go on longer together but, if I go first, promise you’ll take good care of your mum,’ he said.
Before his death, Harris had celebrated his 65th wedding anniversary with Alwen, who always stood defiantly by his side alongside their only daughter.
Alwen was born on December 16, 1931 in north London but grew up in Wales.
A jeweller and sculptor, she met Harris in the early 1950s at an art school in Kennington, south London, before marrying him at St Saviour’s Church in Paddington in 1958.
She was known for her eccentric clothing and is even said to have had a poodle as her bridesmaid.
The couple share one daughter, Bindi, 58, and the family of three were seen walking into Southwark Crown Court together every day during Harris’ first trial in 2014.
The Aussie entertainer was convicted of a string of indecent assaults, including one of an eight-year-old seeking an autograph, two girls in their early teens and a range of abuse of his daughter’s friend over 16 years, starting when she was just 13.
He was jailed for five years for 12 indecent assaults on four underage girls between 1968 and 1986 but Alwen never publicly wavered from supporting her husband and refused to believe he was evil.
In 2017, while still in jail, the disgraced entertainer was put on trial for a second time, accused of four indecent assaults on three teenage girls.
Alwen – seen with Harris at a party in London in 2011 – was known for her eccentric clothing and is even said to have had a poodle as her bridesmaid
The couple at the 2012 British Academy Television Awards in London
Alwen had dementia and was previously seen in a wheelchair (including this photo at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2010)
Before his conviction, Harris was the toast of the British entertainment world. He’s seen here with Esther Rantzen
Harris and Alwen at the same party, this time posing with Cliff Richard
He denied the charges and was found not guilty after the jury failed to agree on a verdict.
Following the not guilty verdict, his solicitor read a statement on Harris’ behalf in which his client said he wanted to spend his remaining time with his wife.
‘Whilst I am pleased that this is finally over, I feel no sense of victory – just relief,’ he said.
‘I am 87 years old, my wife is in ill-health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together.’
He was released in May 2017 after spending three years at HMP Stafford.
Speaking soon 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.’
Best known for 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.
In a 2023 documentary, Harris’ former bandmate Chris Brosnan alleged that his marriage to Alwen had been troubled by numerous alleged affairs.
Alwen and Harris were married for 65 years, and are seen at a memorial service for victims of Australian bushfires at Westminster Abbey in 2009
It is believed Harris told his daughter to ‘look after your mum’ as he spoke with a feeding tube in the days before he died. The family of three are seen in 1968 while Harris was picking up his MBE at Buckingham Palace
The couple of their wedding day at London’s St Saviour’s Church, posing with the poodle that Alwen chose as a bridesmaid
Alwen with a newborn Bindi in 1964. Bindi is said to have changed her name to Ava Reeves to distance herself from her father’s toxic legacy
Alwen showing off her earrings outside the Royal Academy of Arts on the opening day of the Summer Exhibition in London on May 11, 1959
Harris plays his digeridoo with Alwen standing in front of him
‘When it came to women, it was impossible for Rolf to think about his wife and his daughter,’ he said.
‘In front of Alwen he’d take a woman’s hand, hold their hand and pull them in closer… then he would start kissing them all the way up their arm and he’d get up to their neck and then he’d be kissing their neck.’
Final photos of the couple show the pair smiling with Alwen wearing a pink coat and slippers while Harris puts his arm around her and holds the paw of their family dog.
Bindi Harris is said to have changed her name to Ava Reeves to distance herself from her father’s toxic legacy.
