This is the last picture of Rolf Harris out in public before it was revealed he had been arrested by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex scandal.
The 83-year-old entertainer was spotted in London's Soho last month before news emerged of his arrest under Operation Yewtree.
Harris has not been seen in public since and has kept silent over the allegations.
He was yesterday outed as the ‘mystery’ celebrity detained by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex scandal – despite desperate efforts by his lawyers to suppress news of his arrest.
Harris – a favourite of the Queen – had been the only high-profile Operation Yewtree suspect not to have been identified by the mainstream media.
It emerged last night that in an attempt to stop details of his arrest becoming widely known, his lawyers at London law firm Harbottle & Lewis had sent threatening letters to newspapers.
They cited Lord Justice Leveson’s controversial proposal that the public should be prevented from knowing the names of arrested suspects in all but ‘exceptional’ circumstances.
One publisher was told there was ‘no public interest’ in revealing his identity, it was claimed.
Yesterday Harris kept silent after The Sun revealed that he had been arrested over historic sex abuse allegations.
The artist, singer and children’s TV star – the biggest name to be arrested so far by Yewtree officers – was first interviewed over the claims five months ago.
The development was the subject of widespread internet gossip but for legal reasons his identity was not revealed in the mainstream media.
Three weeks ago there was a further torrent of web speculation about Australian-born Harris after he was formally arrested over the allegations for the first time.
But his identity was not disclosed by the mainstream media because although he had been arrested, police did not reveal his identity and his representatives declined to comment.
Yesterday, however, he was identified by The Sun as having been arrested by Yewtree officers.
The aggressive tactics used by his lawyers, who declined to comment yesterday, deepened the row over ‘secret arrests’.
The tersely written letters from Harbottle & Lewis were sent amid mounting concern in the media about plans to ban the public from knowing the names of police suspects who have been arrested but not yet charged.
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Allegations: Rolf Harris was arrested in March by officers from Operation Yewtree, the investigation into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal
The allegations do not involve disgraced Savile, who last year – following his death – was revealed to be Britain’s worst paedophile. Harris’s accuser is a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by him when she was a teenager.
Published: The Sun produced a 'dummy' front page before later printing details of Harris's arrest (pictured)
Although he vehemently denies the allegations, he declined to issue a formal statement yesterday.
The only official comment came from Channel 5, which said it was pulling his programmes pending the outcome of the police investigation.
‘While this legal matter involving Rolf Harris is on-going we have removed Olive the Ostrich and the repeats of Rolf’s Animal Clinic from the schedule,’ a spokesman said.
Harris’s wife is the Welsh sculptress and jeweller Alwen Hughes, They met while they were both art students, marrying in March 1958.
They have one daughter, Bindi, an artist.
At last summer’s Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, Harris famously led the crowd – including Princess Anne – in an impromptu rendition of Two Little Boys, his 1969 Christmas No 1 hit.
He is also famed for his 1957 song Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport.
Prior to yesterday, Harris had been the only celebrity Yewtree suspect not to have been identified by the mainstream media.
His detention follows the arrests of pop star Gary Glitter, comedian Freddie Starr, DJ Dave Lee Travis, publicist Max Clifford and comedian Jim Davidson. Starr, Travis, Clifford and Davidson have all publicly denied any wrong-doing and gave statements after their arrests.
Favourite: Rolf Harris is hugely popular, shown here officially unveiling his oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2005
Marriage: Rolf Harris and his wife Alwen
Critics say Yewtree, set up in the aftermath of the Savile scandal, has turned into a ‘celebrity witch-hunt’ and police are arresting suspects on flimsy evidence.
The reason for Harris’s silence was the subject of speculation last night, with some pundits claiming it might be part of a carefully crafted strategy designed not to inflame the situation.
Police searched his large, gated home in Bray, Berkshire, on November 24 while he was out of the country and took away computer equipment and other items.
Harris was first interviewed under caution – but not arrested – over alleged sex offences on November 29 after attending a police station by appointment.
On March 28 police took the decision to formally arrest him over the allegations.
In February, he made a rare stage appearance at London’s Southbank Centre.
Prior to his show, there had been claims that he had suffered psychiatric problems over the sex allegations, but there was no evidence he was suffering from stress or off colour.
Yesterday there was no answer at Harris’s home.
PR guru Max Clifford, left, and comedian Jim Davidson, right, are among those arrested in the Operation
MILLIONS HEARD ABOUT ARREST ON TWITTER
Flying the flag: Harris at the Diamond Jubilee
Millions across the globe had known for weeks about Rolf Harris’s arrest over alleged sex offences after he was widely named on Twitter.
Mark Williams-Thomas, a former Surrey Police detective who helped expose Jimmy Savile’s crimes in a TV documentary, first identified the entertainer on the website almost five months ago.
His post was quickly retweeted and Harris’s name circulated by thousands of people on the internet.
But newspapers and broadcasters held off from naming him until yesterday amid heavy-handed legal threats from Harris’s lawyers.
Those who named him online included Russell Brand, who has more than 6.4million followers on Twitter. After Harris’ arrest on March 28, he tweeted: ‘Oh rolferoo not you too. #canyoutellwhatitisyet’.
Blogger Guido Fawkes, real name Paul Staines, also reported the arrest.
After Harris’s first police interview, his lawyers from Harbottle & Lewis told one publication: ‘There is no public interest in publishing such content as is entirely self-evident following the publication of the Leveson report.’
One publisher was even warned it could be hit with an expensive damages bill, even if it correctly named a police suspect, in line with a proposal the lawyers said had been recommended by two high court judges.
Bob Satchwell, of the Society of Editors, has warned there is ‘a very small but dangerous step between the media being banned from naming people arrested to the police arresting people secretly’.