Actor Jason Watkins has paid tribute to his daughter Maude on what would have been her 18th birthday. The Crown star’s daughter with his wife Clara Francis died aged two on New Year's Day 2011. He and his wife had taken her to hospital the previous day with flu-like symptoms, but only after an inquest did they come to the realisation that she had been suffering from undiagnosed sepsis.
Heartfelt Instagram message
Sharing a photo of her to Instagram today, the Bafta-winning actor wrote: “Maude would have been 18 today. This is the most grown up photo I can find of our beautiful girl, striding across the lawn.
“Today, she would have been about to jump into the world. Who knows what she will have done with her precious life. How would she have strode through it? She would have met people, and loved them, and been loved.
“She could have made her own world – and changed the world too. Made her own ripple, large or delicate, that would have touched and rocked so many; Every new day, she would have nudged another’s in to joy – as she did with us, when she was here.
“Now today, as an adult, what waves she would have made..what love she will have given. The love we would have given in return, has never stopped.
“We will never stop loving you. Never stop imagining you with us Maude. You are loved, my sweet, sweet girl..xx.”
Patron and public tribute
Watkins and his wife are patrons of Child Bereavement UK. Watkins paid tribute to his daughter at the 2015 Baftas while accepting the award for leading actor for his role in The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies. He said at the time: “If there is a reason why I’m standing here it is because of our Maudie, so thank you.”
Watkins has two other children with Francis and two older children with his first wife, actress Caroline Harding. He has worked with bereavement and sepsis awareness charities and made a documentary about his family's ordeal in 2023. Despite finding an outlet for his pain, Watkins says grieving has been incredibly difficult.
“We are an imperfect family who have survived the worst thing that can happen to a parent,” he said. “It’s indescribable, the sense of guilt, loss, the absence of your child, the light of your life is gone and you don’t know how you can go on.”
Maude's final days
After first exhibiting cold symptoms, the dad had taken Maude to hospital after her condition worsened. Maude was treated for croup, a common condition that affects babies' airways. The family were sent away from the hospital with steroids but Maude developed stridor, a high-pitched sound that signals airflow obstruction. Maude was rushed back to hospital but more steroids were handed out and she was later released.
Watkins said he felt "a strange feeling of dread" when he awoke on the first day of 2011. After trying to awaken her sister, Jason's daughter found Maude unresponsive and he and Clara tragically discovered she had passed away in her sleep. It was later revealed Maude had died of sepsis, a life-threatening condition that affects the immune system and proves fatal if not treated immediately.
