The Crown's Jason Watkins killed kitten amid RADA excitement
The Crown star Jason Watkins accidentally killed his kitten as he jumped for joy after reading his Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) acceptance letter.
Jason Watkins accidentally killed his kitten while celebrating getting into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
After The Crown star read his acceptance letter, Jason jumped into the air in joy, but landed on his pet, Jacob.
Jason, 63, revealed on a recent episode of 53-year-old Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast: "When I got my acceptance letter into RADA at home in Hounslow in Isleworth, we had a kitten at the time.
"I read the letter, and like in a football way, jumped in the air as I got in, and I landed on our cat and killed it. My mum came downstairs, and she said, 'What's going on?' I said, 'I've got into RADA, and I killed the cat."
The Trollied alum buried Jacob in the garden of his family home.
Jason added: "I went to school, and they said, 'What's wrong?' I said, 'Well, I got into RADA, and I landed on the cat, I killed it. So it was an auspicious start, shall we say."
On Sunday's (10.05.26's) episode of Love Your Weekend, Jason opened up about his family's "journey of pain" since he and his wife, Clara, lost their two-year-old daughter, Maude, in 2011 to sepsis - symptoms of which were covered up by the flu.
Jason told host Alan Titchmarsh, 77, that he was going to Parliament to talk about sepsis and care of life-threatening illness, where the body's extreme response to an infection causes inflammation, and can damage organs and tissues.
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies cast member added: "I have such a personal story, and I hope people connect with that.
"My journey of pain, and my daughter Maude, and Clara, my wife, my family, what we’ve endured, I hope people connect with that."
BAFTA TV Award winner Jason and Clara - who are also parents to daughter Bessie, 12, and eight-year-old son Gilbert - think their daughter's death could have been avoided.
Appearing on a 2023 episode of Giovanna Fletcher's Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Clara said: "I've always felt that Maude, she was just unlucky.
"You know, another child may have gone to A+E, and they've had a consultant there who has gone, 'I think this could be sepsis', and their child is alive.
"I think it's important to say that some parents are listened to. I do believe it to be luck ... that makes it so much more painful to me because this is a death that could have been avoided ...
"Why didn't I scream at shout at the hospital and demand they keep her there? ... I failed at the thing I was supposed to be doing, I was supposed to keep her alive."
