Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse, rape, violence, and sexual assault, which some readers may find distressing.
Disgraced musician Ian Watkins reportedly sent a shocking love letter to his 'secret' fiancée the day before his death.
The 48-year-old was pronounced dead on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he was serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences.
Two inmates - Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43 - have been charged with murder over the alleged attack.
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Watkins was jailed in December 2019 after confessing to a slew of horrific crimes, including the attempted rape of a baby.
During his time in prison, he reportedly struck up a relationship with a 30-year-old woman known only as the pseudonym Ellie, whom he referred to as 'Duchess' in a love letter sent 24 hours before his death.
The woman, from Halifax, is said to have met Watkins at a Lost Prophets gig in January 2010 when she was 15 years old.
She claimed she stopped supporting the singer following his arrest in 2012 for several sexual offences, but got in touch with him after he was sentenced.
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In a card which is said to have arrived at her home on the day of the alleged fatal attack, The Sun reports that Watkins wrote: "Duchess. Didn’t think I’d forget your birthday did you. They won’t keep us apart forever. Your Duke. IW."
He reportedly penned another, which included details of a previous attempt on his life in 2023, which landed him in the hospital.
At the time, police said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Reports claimed that three other inmates had taken Watkins hostage.
In the letter allegedly written by the Lost Prophets singer, he described the incident as 'crazy' and said he had been 'stabbed in the neck eight times'.
"Almost died, was touch and go," the letter said. "I had bleeds on the brain and have permanent spinal nerve damage. The weapon went in so far it hit my spine in my neck and scrambled all the nerves.
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"Thankfully I’m still really hot. Someone on the wing said I look like Grindelwald the other day from Fantastic Beasts.
"So whenever I get compared to Johnny Depp it’s always a good day, haha."
In a third letter to Ellie, Watkins is said to have told of his concerns for his safety.
It read: "I hate the weekends in here cause we are unlocked all day so you never know what’s going to happen.
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"That sh*t happens to me on a weekend, out of nowhere, so I always have that in the back of my head."
According to The Sun, Ellie said that Watkins 'had a hold' over her, saying: "I tried multiple times to move on, but it never worked. I couldn’t ever drop the thought of him."
Discussing the final letter she received from him, she added: "That was the very last contact I had with him and probably the last message he ever sent.
“I was so excited to get it, but a day later he was dead. I had no idea. I just fell on the floor. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak. I was inconsolable.”
Ellie claimed she and Watkins wrote to 'each other every day' before his death.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Olivia Burke