ROLF HARRIS HAS been stripped of a prestigious title awarded to him by Queen Elizabeth II almost a decade ago.

The disgraced Australian television star, artist and songwriter was convicted last year of indecently assaulting the girls, who included the childhood best friend of his daughter Bindi, between 1969 and 1986.

Honours awarded to him in Australia were removed last month.

In a notice published in the London Gazette said he has now been stripped of his CBE, an Order of the British Empire award, and one step below a knighthood.

It read:

THE QUEEN has directed that the appointment of Rolf HARRIS to be a Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 17 June 2006, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.

Harris was the second person to be convicted under a wide-ranging police investigation set up in the wake of revelations that the late Jimmy Savile, a fellow major BBC star, was a prolific abuser.

His case caused widespread revulsion in Britain, where his television programmes were watched by millions of children, and in his homeland.

Includes reporting by - © AFP, 2015

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