Queen Camilla Sparks Controversy by Posting Photo with J.K. Rowling at Palace During Pride Month
Queen Camilla Sparks Controversy by Posting Photo with J.K. Rowling at Palace During Pride Month
Meredith KileTue, June 30, 2026 at 5:16 PM UTC
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Queen Camilla meets with author J.K. Rowling at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 30, 2026Credit: jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty -
Queen Camilla welcomed Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to Hollyrood House in Scotland this week
The Queen posted a photo with the author, sparking a Pride Month controversy due to Rowling's history of anti-trans comments
Rowling first went public with her views in 2020 and has criticized Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for their support of the LGBTQ community
Queen Camilla courted controversy this week as she welcomed Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to visit with her in Scotland.
On Tuesday, June 30, the Queen, 78, shared a photo with Rowling, 60, as they met at Holyroodhouse in support of Camilla's childhood reading initiatives.
"With a shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure, The Queen and author J.K. Rowling have met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh," the post read. "Her Majesty and Ms Rowling discussed the importance of ensuring that young people have access to books and the vital part reading plays in opening doors for future generations."
Some followers found the post distasteful, however, as it fell on the final day of Pride Month and Rowling has a history of making anti-trans comments.
Rowling's public statements against transgender women have led many to label her a transgender-exclusionary radical feminist, or TERF. The author — who first came under fire in 2020 for making remarks widely condemned as transphobic — has denied being transphobic, defending her views as pro-feminist.
"I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it," she wrote in a lengthy essay on her website.
"So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe," she continued, stating that she is a survivor of sexual assault and domestic abuse. "When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman...then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside."
A demonstrator holds a placard against author J.K. Rowling during the seventh Trans Pride protest march in London on July 26, 2025Credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty
Most recently, Rowling called out former U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for appointing Harriet Harman as his newly appointed Adviser on Women and Girls. Harmer has been outspoken in her support of the trans community in the past.
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“Bravo, @Keir_Starmer, for getting in an Adviser on Women and Girls who thinks the definition of women and girls includes men and boys,” the author wrote on X. “That'll definitely win back people who believe Labour's a party for smug, lanyard-wearing, luxury-belief-espousing cultural elitists."
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Rowling's controversial politics have complicated the legacy of Harry Potter for both the fans of the series and the actors who originally brought it to life on the big screen. Harry himself, Daniel Radcliffe, has been one of the most outspoken of the former cast, frequently expressing his appreciation to Rowling for the role of a lifetime while denouncing her views on gender.
"It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic," Radcliffe said in a 2024 interview.
"Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person," he added. "But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life."
Daniel Radcliffe, J.K. Rowling, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint at the world premiere of 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2' in London on July 7, 2011.Credit: Ian West/PA Images via Getty
Meanwhile, Emma Watson said in a September 2025 podcast interview that she would always "treasure" her relationship with Rowling despite not seeing eye-to-eye on LGBTQ issues.
"I really don't believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can't and don't treasure Jo and the person that I, that I had personal experiences with," Watson said.
The actress added, "I just see this world right now where we seem to giving permission to this throwing out of people, or that people are disposable. I will always think that's wrong. I just believe that no one is disposable."
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
