Rolf Harris left £16m will including last-minute change made before he died
Rolf Harris left the bulk of his estate to his only child Bindi until the convicted paedophile added his loyal personal assistant Lisa Ratcliff as executor to his will.
Before his death, Harris accumulated a $30.8million (£16million) fortune including his paintings, which were valued at an estimated $22 million (£12 million) before his convictions and jailing for 12 sex offences on four female victims.
Ms Ratcliff, who did not report Harris’s May 10 death to his local registrar in Windsor in South East England for 13 days so Bindi could grieve and secretly lay him to rest, has sole responsibility for his paintings.
Mr Harris’s friend William Merritt said of Ms Ratcliff: “She was fiercely protective of him and pretty much managed his entire life, from his carers to deciding to whom or whether he should give interviews, and taking him to his appointments. Bindi is a lovely woman but couldn’t manage the care of her mother and father herself and leant increasingly on Lisa.
Rolf died of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age' earlier this year“Rolf before his death made Lisa an executor to his estate and said he put Lisa in charge of his paintings – before his court convictions they were worth around £12 million ($A22m). The paintings would have gone down in value since his convictions – some of them used to sell for up to £125,000 ($A240,000) or more a piece. Rolf was up there with Hirst and Picasso."
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Ms Ratcliff, 53, began working closely with Harris in 2000 under then-theatrical agent Jan Kennedy who managed him. She has also been organising Alwen’s carers for years.
“Before Rolf died Lisa was made an executor to his estate with Bindi and put in sole charge of his paintings which are in storage and were worth £12m ($A22m) before his convictions,” said Mr Merritt.
Mr Harris's fortune included the $7 million Berkshire riverside mansion where his wife continues to live with 24-hour care. Harris’s wife, former actress and sculptress Alwen, 91, is gravely ill with Alzehimer’s and uses a wheelchair.
The mansion, with its views of the Thames, is just a 10-minute drive from Windsor Castle, where the pre-downfall Harris unveiled his portrait of the late Queen in 2012. While in prison, he 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. He was cremated in an intimate ceremony organised by Miles and Daughters funeral directors near his home in Crowthorne in South East England.
If you have been affected by this story, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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