Rolf Harris’ wife Alwen Hughes dies aged 93

Rolf Harris’ wife Alwen Hughes has died aged 93, just a year after the death of the disgraced TV star.

The wife of disgraced paedophile TV star Rolf Harris has died aged 93 - one year after her husband.

Alwen Hughes stood by Harris when he was jailed in 2014 for 12 indecent assaults on four underage girls between 1968 and 1986.

Her death certificate says she passed away due to a “stroke, frailty of old age, vascular dementia”.

They were married for 65 years prior to Harris’ death from neck cancer in May 2023.

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.

Artist and television personality Rolf Harris leaves court with his wife Alwen Hughes after being found guilty of 12 indecent assault charges at Southwark Crown Court. (Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Hughes has previously been pictured in a wheelchair and was reportedly suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in her final years, The Sun reports.

She stuck by her disgraced husband through the court proceedings and his subsequent jail term.

She attended every day of Harris’ initial trial alongside their daughter Bindi.

The paedophile served nearly three years in prison before being released on licence in 2017, and lived a reclusive life afterwards.

Harris with daughter Bindi (left) and wife Alwen outside court. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/PA Images via Getty Images)

Harris was convicted of 12 sex attacks on girls as young as seven and was handed a jail sentence of just under six years.

After a jury failed to reach a verdict on charges at a 2017 hearing, Harris’ solicitor read a statement from him saying: “Whilst I am pleased that this is finally over, I feel no sense of victory - just relief.

“I am 87 years old, my wife is in ill-health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together.”

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.”

Harris was accompanied only by his wife and their carers prior to his death.

A family friend told the Daily Mail that daughter Bindi had had “nothing to say about him for years”.

Alwen stuck by Harris despite his convictions. (Photo by John Stillwell/PA Images via Getty Images)

It’s understood Harris’ health took a turn for the worse after the sudden death of his poodle earlier in 2022.

At the time, private investigator and former police officer William Merritt, author of the book Rolf Harris: The Truth behind the Trials, said of Hughes: “She’s very frail.”

Hughes was a jeweller and sculptress, born in North London.

She married Harris in March 1958, after the pair met in art school.

The sculptress grew up in Wales and is known for her eccentric clothing, as well as her decision to have a poodle as a bridesmaid.

The couple married at St Saviour’s Church in Paddington in 1958.

Family torn apart

The documentary Rolf Harris: Hiding In Plain Sight, which aired on ITV in October last year, re-examined how the disgraced star was caught.

While some members of Harris’ family cut all ties, many stuck by him. including his wife.

In the documentary Chris Brosnan – Harris’ former bandmate and ‘surrogate son’ – suggests their marriage was troubled long before his crimes came to light.

He claims the TV entertainer was consistently “pushing a boundary”, alleging he’d cheated on Alwen on countless occasions.

“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.”

Chris claimed Alwen was “devastated” by his affairs and was “left suicidal” due to him constantly working away.

When Harris had an extension built on his house, Alwen was said to have “moved into the new wing” so that she was “as far away from him as she could get”.

This story first appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.