Jason Watkins ‘blames himself’ for his daughter’s death as he raises awareness of sepsis in ITV documentary

Jason Watkins has admitted that he still “blames himself” for the death of his daughter Maude as he prepares to release an ITV documentary in her memory.

The Crown actor and his wife Clara, both, 60, who live in London, sadly lost their two-year-old daughter to sepsis on New Year’s Day in 2011, after she was misdiagnosed with a common childhood infection.

Despite two trips to hospital, Maude’s flu symptoms masked the life-threatening condition and she was undiagnosed until Jason found her dead in her bed on the morning of 1 January, 12 years ago.

Jason and Clara featured on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today (30 March) ahead of the release of their documentary ‘Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie’ which airs tonight.

The actor told hosts Susanna Reid and Adil Ray that he “blames himself” for Maude’s death because he took her home from hospital just before she died.

He said: “It’s easy to blame yourself and I still do because I was there when she was discharged the second time.”

Jason, who is a Patron of Child Bereavement UK, also admitted that one of the most “painful” things about being a parent is wondering if they’d done everything they could have.

While fashion designer Clara expressed her regret that the couple had been “so accepting” of the doctor’s diagnosis of Croup -  a common childhood infection.

Agreeing with her husband, she said: “We always will [blame ourselves] because it’s that instinct thing, ‘If I had just been more demanding and stuck with my instinct’ that she was seriously ill, and not been so accepting.”

Clara, who had never heard of sepsis before her daughter contracted it, added: “I’d not even heard of sepsis before Maude died. I had heard of septicaemia but not sepsis and they are different and it’s not like meningitis which is easier to spot - you’ll have very clear signs.

“It is more insidious. but when you do know the signs, when you do know what you’re looking for then you know. So it’s important to learn what they are.”

Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie airs on ITV1 at 9pm tonight, and tells the emotional story of their daughter, as the couple continue to raise awareness of sepsis.

Jason and Clara have two other children, Bessie and Gilbert. He also has two sons, Freddie and Pip, from his first marriage to actress Caroline Harding.