Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse some readers may find distressing.
The disturbing letter Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins sent to his fiancée before he was killed in prison has been disclosed.
On October 11, the disgraced 48-year-old musician was killed after a brutal attack at HM Prison Wakefield in West Yorkshire, where he was serving a 29-year sentence for multiple child sex offenses.
According to reports, he was fatally stabbed in the neck by a fellow inmate during a violent attack shortly after morning cells were unlocked. Despite emergency medical efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities have confirmed that two inmates - Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43 - have been arrested and charged with Watkins' murder.
Letters to his "secret" fiancée
In the aftermath of the convicted pedophile's murder, new information has surfaced regarding the late singer’s personal life, including a secret relationship he maintained during his time in prison.
According to The Sun, Watkins was with a 30-year-old fan named Ellie, who began writing to him while he was incarcerated. The relationship allegedly began after she met him backstage at a concert in 2010, when she was 15 years old. The outlet reports that Ellie was manipulated into purchasing her own engagement ring so Watkins could propose.
The two exchanged letters over the years, including one that arrived at Ellie’s home the day he was killed. In the birthday card, Watkins wrote: “Duchess. Didn’t think I’d forget your birthday, did you? They won’t keep us apart forever. Your Duke. IW.” He continued: “I want you to know how much I have enjoyed annoying you all this time and how excited I am to continue this in the future. Happy Birthday.”
In another letter, Watkins described an alleged stabbing incident from 2023 in which he claimed he was attacked by three inmates. “The whole incident with me was crazy. Stabbed in the neck eight times. Almost died, was touch and go,” he wrote. “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.”
He added: “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.”
Another note appeared to express ongoing concerns about safety in prison. “I hate the weekends in here cause we are unlocked all day, so you never know what’s going to happen. That sh** happens to me on a weekend, out of nowhere, so I always have that in the back of my head,”* he wrote.
Speaking to the outlet, Ellie described feeling emotionally tied to Watkins despite what she referred to as his controlling behavior. “He had a hold over me,” she said. “I tried multiple times to move on, but it never worked. I couldn’t ever drop the thought of him.”
She said the news of his death deeply affected her. “I was so excited to get [the card], 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.”
Another Former Fan Shares Her Experience
Following Watkins’ death, another woman, Hannah Brown, spoke out about her own interactions with him and his chilling request.
In an interview with the publication, she said the singer contacted her on social media when she was 17. After she managed to get his attention online, he allegedly asked her to appear on webcam naked and to visit him with her baby daughter.
“He asked if me and my daughter could come and meet him - in my head I thought ‘no, I’m not doing that,’” she said. “He asked if my baby would be able to call him dad.”
“He asked me if we could be used as sex slaves,” she added. “Not long after that he was arrested and then everything came out.”
Brown said she had a friend with her when Watkins sent the messages. “We thought about going to meet him when he asked, but we didn’t in the end... I’m just glad in that aspect, I had my wits about me that I didn’t go and meet him. I don’t know what would have happened.”
Watkins was convicted in 2013 after pleading guilty to 13 charges. He had admitted two attempted rapes, sexually assaulting a child under 13, aiding and abetting the sexual assault of a child under 13, conspiring to rape a child under 13, and conspiring to sexually assault another child under 13.
He had also pleaded guilty to six counts of taking and possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.