Rolf Harris’s dying words revealed as his final years in disgrace come to light

Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris’ dying words have been revealed, after he secretly died from cancer.

Final photos of Rolf Harris.

Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris spent the final years of his life struggling to eat, walk and communicate as his health declined rapidly.

Harris’s death at 93 was confirmed on Tuesday night, Australian time. The Australian sex offender, who had a decades-long career in showbusiness before his arrest on indecent assault charges in 2013, had been suffering from neck cancer since his release from prison in 2017.

An ambulance was seen outside his home in Berkshire, west of London, earlier this month. He lived there with his wife of 65, 91-year-old Alwen Hughes, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and the couple needed 24-hour care.

Rolf seen on June 15, 2022 - the last known photos of him in public. Picture: Splash News/Media Mode

But the scale of Harris’s health struggle came into focus late last year.

“Rolf has been very sick,” author and private investigator William Merritt told The Daily Mail in 2022 after seeing Harris in person.

Rolf on June 15, 2022, accompanied by his daughter Bindi. Picture: Splash News/Media Mode

“When I saw him, he was able to speak to me. He was with it. But he was obviously unwell.”

Mr Merritt did say that Harris was still “the entertainer” and would “turn into a big kid” as soon as someone walked into the room, trying to “perform on cue even when he’s unwell”.

Meanwhile a neighbour told The Telegraph that Harris’s health had declined after the death of his poodle, Bumble.

“Only carers and nurses, who care for him 24 hours, come and go. I’m told he can’t eat anymore,” the neighbour, Portia Wooderson, said.

Now his dying words have been revealed, with Harris begging his daughter Bindi to ensure his wife was cared for.

News Corp Australia exclusively reports a source saying Harri said to Bindi: “Look after your mum. I always believed we would go on longer together but, if I go first, promise you’ll take good care of your mum.”

Rolf Harris outside the High Court in 2017. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

A life ends in disgrace

Harris was born in 1930 in Bassendean, in Perth’s north east.

He was a champion swimmer in his youth before moving to London in the early ‘50s, where he studied art.

After getting early gigs working as a performer and illustrator for the BBC and ITV, he became internationally famous for his art and music.

Harris became known for his art and music, before his arrest in 2013.

His most well-known hit was the Australian-inspired song, Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, released in 1957.

In 2005, the late Queen Elizabeth II sat for a portrait with him.

At the height of his career, Harris received multiple awards and honours, most of which were stripped. He had been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1968, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), in which he was later advanced to Officer (AO) in 2012.

Harris, pictured at the height of his fame in the ‘60s, was barely seen in public since his release from jail in 2017. Picture: Michael Putland/Getty Images

In 2013, he was arrested as part of a UK police investigation into a series of sexual offences. He was also accused of making indecent images of children.

After standing trial in June 2014, Harris was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault against four teenage girls between 1968 and 1986, one of which he later appealed. He was sentenced to a jail term of five years and nine months.

He was released from Stafford Prison in England’s midlands in mid-2017 after three years behind bars, and was rarely seen in public afterwards.

He stood trial again in mid-2017 for separate cases of sexual assault, involving seven complainants who were aged between 12 and 27 at the time of the alleged incidents. He was found not guilty on three counts, and was ultimately cleared after the jury failed to reach a verdict on four other counts.