The Mail on Sunday

Princess Anne to visit inmates at Rolf Harris jail

- By Paul Cahalan

PRINCESS ANNE is to visit the prison where paedophile Rolf Harris is serving his sentence.

She is due to tour HMP Stafford next month in her capacity as the patron of prisoner rehabilita­tion charity The Butler Trust.

Buckingham Palace confirmed last night that the Princess Royal will meet inmates during her visit on October 14.

She previously met Harris at Buckingham Palace in 2006 when he was given his CBE. The Princess was standing in for the Queen at the investitur­e ceremony. Harris was given the honour after he painted a portrait of the Queen to mark her 80th birthday.

Last year the disgraced TV star was jailed for nearly six years for 12 indecent assaults against four girls – including one aged just seven. The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said Harris had taken advantage of his celebrity status and had shown ‘no remorse’.

Harris was moved from Bullingdon prison in Oxfordshir­e to Stafford, which has two wings for vulnerable sex offenders, late last year after threats from inmates.

It followed an incident last July when the entertaine­r was spat at by an inmate during a prison church service.

Some inmates at Stafford have complained that Harris is being given preferenti­al treatment and has become friendly with prison guards by giving them drawings.

But outraged victims of Harris said that the disgraced star was still showing no remorse for his crimes.

Harris was one of the main performers at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebratio­ns outside Buckingham Palace in 2012. She stripped Harris of his CBE after his guilty verdict.

Liz Dux, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who represents some of Harris’s victims, said: ‘They are very annoyed by his continuing arrogance and total disdain for the harm he has caused.’

Earlier this year The Mail on Sunday revealed that Harris had penned a song in jail describing his victims as ‘money-grabbing’.

 ??  ?? HONOUR: Anne, on another jail visit, and Harris, right, with his CBE in 2006
HONOUR: Anne, on another jail visit, and Harris, right, with his CBE in 2006
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