Rolf Harris’ will reveals who will inherit paedo TV star’s £16m fortune after last-minute change
ROLF Harris’ will has revealed who will inherit the paedo TV star’s £16million fortune after a last minute-change.
The shamed TV star – who served three years in prison for a string of child sex attacks – died in disgrace at his £7m home in Bray, Berkshire on May 10.
Prior to his crimes becoming public knowledge, the disgraced presenter was known for being a TV presenter, musician and artist.
He had accumulated a £16million fortune including his paintings, which were valued at an estimated £12 million.
Harris’ other assets included his riverside mansion in Berkshire, as well as the proceeds from the sale of his businesses when he went to prison.
The former star left the bulk of his estate to his only child Bindi.
But it has now been revealed that the convicted paedophile added his loyal personal assistant Lisa Ratcliff as executor to his will in a last-minute decision before his death.
Harris’ friend William Merritt said of Mrs Ratcliff: “She was fiercely protective of him and pretty much managed his entire life, from his carers to deciding to whom or whether he should give interviews, and taking him to his appointments.
“Bindi is a lovely woman but couldn’t manage the care of her mother and father herself and leant increasingly on Lisa,” he told Australian media.
“Rolf before his death made Lisa an executor to his estate and said he put Lisa in charge of his paintings – before his court convictions they were worth around £12 million ($A22m).”
“The paintings would have gone down in value since his convictions – some of them used to sell for up to £125,000 ($A240,000) or more a piece. Rolf was up there with Hirst and Picasso.”
He added: “Before Rolf died Lisa was made an executor to his estate with Bindi and put in sole charge of his paintings which are in storage and were worth £12m ($A22m) before his convictions”.
Ms Ratcliff, 53, began working closely with Harris in 2000 under then-theatrical agent Jan Kennedy who managed him.
She has also been organising carers for Harris’s wife, 91-year-old Alwen, for years.
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.
But he was exposed as a sex offender when he was convicted of indecent assault against four girls in 2014 amid Operation Yewtree, and was jailed for five years and nine months.
While in prison, Harris still pocketed a $1.8 million payout after the break-up of his business empire, Rolf Harris Enterprises, and accumulated royalties and other assets.
Harris was freed from jail in 2017 for a string of sex offences including children as young as eight.
The last photo of the former presenter before his death aged 93 showed him in a wheelchair after neck cancer left him needing 24-hour care.
As of October last year, the sick singer and artist was receiving round-the-clock care for the terminal illness.
He could no longer talk due to his condition and had to be fed through a tube.
The former kids’ entertainer died on May 10 from cancer and old age, according to his death certificate.