https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12115377/Rolf-Harriss-cause-death-revealed.htmlRolf Harris's death certificate reveals he died TWO WEEKS ago of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age' at his home as it emerges he has already been cremated
Rolf Harris death: LIVEBLOG
OBITUARY: Beloved entertainer with royal honours, to convicted paedophile
REVEALED: Inside the pathetic final days of disgraced TV star Rolf Harris
By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter and Sabrina Miller and James Fielding
Published: 14:14, 23 May 2023 | Updated: 16:00, 23 May 2023
Rolf Harris has died aged 93 of neck cancer and old age, MailOnline can reveal today, and the Australian sex offender has already been 'laid to rest' following a secret cremation. The disgraced TV star had been 'very sick' since leaving prison six years ago, living as a near-recluse with his wife in their £5million riverside mansion in Bray, Berkshire. An undertaker's private ambulance was photographed outside his riverside home on May 11. Harris died there on May 10 - 13 days ago but his death was only registered with Windsor and Maidenhead Council today. The document also revealed he has been cremated. This afternoon, in a statement released by his solicitor, his family said: 'Rolf Harris recently died peacefully surrounded by family and friends and has now been laid to rest. They ask that you respect their privacy. No further comment will be made'.
The cause of death has been revealed as 'metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of neck' the medical term for neck cancer and 'frailty of old age'. Paedophile Harris had been struggling to talk after cancerous tumours grew in his neck after he was freed from jail in 2017 for a string of sex offences including children as young as eight. He was fed through a tube before his death and was seen in a wheelchair when out of the house. He is survived by his grandson Marlon, 25, daughter Bindi, 59, and wife Alwen, 91, a jeweller and sculptor. She is in a wheelchair because of Alzheimer's disease but the couple, who married in 1958, lived together with the help of around the clock care. Private investigator, author and former police officer William Merritt, author of the book Rolf Harris: The Truth behind the Trials, told MailOnline that he last met with him in late 2022, and he was gravely ill. He said: 'Rolf has been very sick. When I saw him he was able to speak to me. He was with it, but he was obviously unwell'.
The Australian-born TV presenter was a family favourite for decades before being convicted of a string of indecent assaults in June 2014. These included one on an eight-year-old autograph hunter, two on girls in their early teens and a catalogue of abuse against his daughter's friend over 16 years. He was jailed for five years and nine months after being convicted of 12 assaults which took place between 1968 and 1986. A private ambulance was parked outside the property on Thursday May 11, leaving at around 6pm. It has now emerged that he died the day before. Mr Merritt said Rolf has had neck cancer and there have been serious concerns about his health, although he was 'getting on with things'. He told MailOnline: 'I heard the news over the weekend and it's all very sad. Rolf was convicted of sexual offences, that much people obviously know, but he still had millions of fans all around the world. He doesn't have a large family, but I know that his immediate relatives will be extremely upset and will want to grieve in private.'
Due to the cancer, Rolf is said to have 'gurgled' when talking. His wife Alwen has also been seriously ill with Alzheimer's disease. 'She's very frail', he said.
Harris's daughter Bindi had no comment to make when contacted at her home in a Somerset village. Her husband Craig also refused to comment. A family friend told MailOnline: 'In recent years Bindi has nothing to say about her father. She gets very stressed when asked about him and prefers not to talk about him'.
It understood Rolf Harris' health took a turn for the worse after the sudden death of his beloved poodle earlier in 2022. Harris married his sculptor wife Alwen in March 1958 after meeting at art school. The couple have one daughter Bindi. Best known for hits Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Jake The Peg, as well as a string of children's TV hits, Harris also famously painted the 80th birthday portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He was the face of British Paints for more than three decades before he was dumped by the brand when he was arrested in 2013. The following year, Harris was found guilty on 12 counts of indecent assault, and was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail. The assaults include one on an eight-year-old autograph hunter, two on girls in their early teens, and a catalogue of abuse against his daughter's friend of over 16 years. He was released on parole in May 2017 after serving three years behind bars. Of the 12 convictions, one was overturned on appeal in November 2017, and a jury chose not to convict him in two additional cases in the same year. Mr Merritt said last year that Rolf prefered to be on his own and doesn't 'particularly like kids' as he 'hates the noise'. '(He's) battling a cancer of the neck, and gurgles when he talks. It's difficult to understand him,' Mr Merritt said previously.
'As soon as one of two people walk into the room, he turns into a big kid again. He's an artistic type, and he'll try to perform on cue, even when he's unwell.'
Harris' health has deteriorated in recent years and that he was hospitalised during his stint in prison when his diabetes spiralled out of control. 'He's in poor health and has declined rapidly. He doesn't come out any more and when he does it's only ever with his carer,' one neighbour said in 2019.
Harris hadn't spoken publicly since his release from jail in 2017 but released a statement in Mr Merritt's recently released book Rolf Harris: The Defence Team's Special Investigator Reveals the Truth Behind the Trials. 'I understand we live in the post truth era and know few will want to know what really happened during the three criminal trials I faced – it's easier to condemn me and liken me to people like Savile and Glitter,' Harris said.
'I was convicted of offences I did not commit in my first trial. That is not just my view but the view of the Court of Appeal who overturned one of my convictions. I had already served the prison sentence by the time of the appeal. I changed my legal team after the first trial, and I was told that if the truth was out there, William (Merritt) would find it and he did. The evidence he found proved my innocence to two subsequent juries. I'd be in prison serving a sentence for crimes I did not commit if it were not for William's investigation. It is difficult to put into words the injustice that I feel.'
