Actor Jason Watkins and wife Clara Francis tragically lost their two-year-old daughter Maude to sepsis back in 2011.
Perhaps even more tragically, Maude’s body was found by her big sister Bessie, who was aged four at the time.
Unable to wake Maude on New Year’s Day, Bessie wandered into her parents’ bedroom to wake them and let them know. Actor Jason – in the final episode of Channel 5’s The Game tonight (May 15) – said he instinctively knew that something wasn’t right.
Hours earlier, the couple had taken their youngest to hospital. There, they were told that Maude had croup, a common childhood illness. However, when he saw Maude, Jason said he knew she’d passed away.
Jason, 62, and Clara were left devastated by the loss, as was their daughter Bessie. They credit the arrival of baby Gilbert in 2012 with saving them.
But how did Bessie, who turns 18 this month, cope following the loss of her sister? Jason and Clara have been open about her struggles with grief…
Actor Jason Watkins and wife Clara Francis lost daughter Maude back in 2011 (Credit: YouTube)
Jason Watkins on why daughter Bessie didn’t appear in Maudie documentary
In March 2023, Jason and Clara fronted a documentary, In Memory of Maudie, about their late daughter. The raw, emotional watch featured interviews with the couple and their son Gilbert. Bessie, however, didn’t appear.
In the end it was just too difficult for her.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Clara explained that “it must be hard” for Bessie growing up in the shadow of “Saint Maude… forever preserved as this gorgeous thing”.
Bessie did initially agree to appear in the documentary, but later changed her mind.
Jason explained: “She did a really moving interview, but then she watched it and she felt very exposed. In the end it was just too difficult for her.”
‘I didn’t want Bessie to be alone’
Speaking to the Guardian, Clara said the day Maude died she knew she “had to have another child” for Bessie’s sake.
“It was primal. I didn’t want our older daughter, Bessie, to be alone,” she explained.
In the months after Maude died, Clara said she worried about the impact the loss would have on Bessie. She explained that her eldest daughter would see her mum crying and say: “You’ve still got me. Aren’t I enough?” And that, Clara said, would trigger guilt. “Losing a child affects everything, every relationship you have.”
Nowadays, Clara said she doesn’t sweat the small stuff when it comes to Bessie’s education. “I don’t care about how well Bessie does. I’m not going to drive her nuts saying: ‘Do your homework.’ All I care about is, is she happy?” she said.
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