Louise Clifford, the daughter of the late publicist Max, has died aged 51 following a short battle with cancer, MailOnline can reveal today.
The co-founder of the public relations company was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was just seven years old and the disease led her to spend much of her life in a wheelchair.
She died peacefully at her home on Tuesday surrounded by her loved ones.
Friend, author Russ Kane broke the news on Twitter yesterday, posting: “RIP my lovely friend Louise Clifford.
Max Clifford with his daughter Louise outside his trial for indecent assault. She died at the age of 51
PR wife Louise Clifford with Pop Idol finalist to Gareth Gates in 2010
Louise’s friend, author Russ Kane announced the news on Twitter yesterday, posting: ‘RIP my lovely friend Louise Clifford. She was an inspiration with her courage and resilience.
Max Clifford, wife Liz and daughter Louise at Ross Kemp and Rebekah Wade’s wedding reception
“Despite endless horrific illnesses and countless major operations, often being confined to a wheelchair, she never once complained.
“We laugh, joke and take the p*** out of the world.
“She was an inspiration with her courage and resilience.”
Disgraced PR guru Clifford, who at the height of his powers was earning £2.5million a year, died in prison aged 74 in December 2017 while serving a eight years for indecent assault.
After his death, Louise pursued her father’s legal appeal to have him posthumously cleared of his name.
Louise wanted to “restore her reputation”, according to her lawyer.
But the Court of Appeal dismissed the case in 2019, with the judge saying: “Nothing we heard came close to jeopardizing the security of his beliefs.”
Louise worked alongside her father before he was imprisoned and in 2014 she set up her own talent management and PR company with former colleagues called Borne Media.
The company now counts Strictly star Katya Jones, model Sasha Atwood – partner of English footballer Jack Grealish and boxer Audley Harrison among its clients.
Louise had spoken about her father’s treatment in prison after he collapsed at Cat C HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire in December 2017, three and a half years into his sentence.
Max, who earned £2.5million a year at the height of his powers, died of heart failure at Hinchingbrooke Hospital near Huntingdon on December 10, 2017, two days after being taken there by ambulance .
In a statement read at her father’s inquest, she said her “final months lacked humanity and dignity”.‘, adding: ‘I could see it was fading.’
Louise, who battled crippling rheumatoid arthritis from the age of seven, was determined to clear her father’s name, even after his death
Max Clifford, Louise Clifford and Cheryl Barrymore at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2002
Louise said her father had mentioned “feeling tight in the chest and unable to breathe deeply” five months before his death.
A consultant cardiologist recommended an MRI, saying the right side of his heart looked abnormal.
Louise and former footballer Rodney Marsh at one of her father’s charity golf days in Spain in 2011
“I could see him getting more and more fragile,” Louise said.
“He complained to me daily about the freezing showers and the cold cell and what a shock to the system it was every time.”
She added that she had written to her lawyer and her personal doctor “in desperation” as she feared he was dying.
“I desperately needed him to have his day in court and have the chance to clear his name,” she added.
Louise was born in June 1971 in Wimbledon, south-west London, and would have been 52 next month.
She is the daughter of Max and his first wife, Liz Porter, whom he met at a ball in Croydon in 1963 before marrying her in June 1967. Liz died of lung cancer in 2003.
Louise’s condition was revealed after she developed a swollen finger that was not healing.
Louise was in terrible pain, almost unable to walk or write.
A few weeks before her 16th birthday, she had her knees replaced and regular operations interrupted her studies.
She eventually did her A-levels at a boarding school for students with disabilities and earned two A’s and a B.
Speaking about her illness, Louise said: “I don’t really have a lot of bad moments where I feel like I’m missing things.
“I’m really a positive person, that’s my nature.”