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 in 2011 from undiagnosed sepsis.
Emotional Instagram post
The 63-year-old, who played Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the Netflix drama, said he will “never stop loving” Maude in his emotional post. Sharing a photo of her to Instagram, 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.”
Watkins went on: “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 of Child Bereavement UK
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 previously said he was struggling to cope with his grief. “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 death from sepsis
The actor took Maude to the hospital in 2010 when her flu-like symptoms worsened. She was treated for croup, a common condition that affects babies' airways and sent home with steroids. She developed stridor, a high-pitched sound that signals airflow obstruction, and was rushed back to hospital and given more steroids. Maude was sent home again and died in her sleep on New Year’s Day 2010 of sepsis, a life-threatening condition that affects the immune system and proves fatal if not treated immediately.
