She may be one of the UK’s most successful authors of all time, but despite her fame – and controversy surrounding her views on transgender rights in recent years – JK Rowling has managed to keep her personal life relatively private.
More than a decade on from the whirlwind success of the Harry Potter films hitting the big screen, Rowling, who turned 60 this week, for the most part maintains a low-profile existence at her £2million estate near Edinburgh.
But with an estimated net worth of $1.2billion (£895million), as recently revealed by Forbes, it’s perhaps no surprise that, behind the scenes, the author is more fond of a party-hard and lavish lifestyle than she tends to share publicly.
In June, the Harry Potter author made a rare public appearance as she attended Royal Ascot with her rarely-seen husband, doctor Neil Murray.
Donning a pale blue dress paired with an extravagant floral fascinator in the same shade and big black sunglasses, Rowling and her husband were seen sipping on flutes of champagne – before she shared on X/Twitter: ‘Really hope go big or go home is still a thing.’
Her comments made for a rare insight into the life of Britain’s best known figures – and showed that JK is still a big fan of a fun lifestyle as she looks ahead to the next decade.
As a source told The Sun: ‘She’s a secret party animal when she’s in the mood – but she’s happiest with close friends, away from the spotlight.’
A picture she shared on X/Twitter following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of women in April, holding a cigarette during a trip on her $150million superyacht to the Bahamas, also offered a glimpse into her ‘lavish’ lifestyle.
Despite keeping a relatively private personal life, J K Rowling is said to be a ‘party animal’ behind the scenes (pictured onboard her superyacht in a picture shared to Twitter)
Rowling had shared: ‘I love it when a plan comes together’ after the ruling that, in the 2010 Equality Act, the definition of the term ‘women’ relates only to biological women.
She’s also said to throw lavish but ‘highly secretive’ parties at her Scottish estate.
On New Year’s Eve, The Sun reported that one party at her home resembled a ‘major festival’, with fireworks, live music and even its own funfair, including dodgems and a carousel.
The ultra-VIP guest list was said to include music stars and actors, such as U2, The Pretenders and James Bond star Daniel Craig.
Her 60th birthday is expected to be no less extravagant than her 50th, a decade ago, when guests were reportedly invited to dress as ‘your own private nightmare’.
Another source told the paper: ‘She’s brilliant company, funny – outrageous sometimes – and doesn’t shy away from saying, “Let’s stay for another one”.
‘Her birthday will be no different – she’s looking forward to celebrating with the people she loves.’
In addition, when Rowling visits London, she’s said to enjoy lunch at The River Café in Hammersmith, a celeb haunt where she hosts events for feminist activists.
As she attended Royal Ascot in June (pictured), Rowling was spotted sipping on flutes of champagne
It made for a rare public appearance from the author, who has become controversial in recent years
In April 2022, she hosted a boozy women-only lunch at the exclusive River Café in Hammersmith (pictured)
JK Rowling (pictured in 2016) has become controversial in recent years due to her opinions on transgender rights
In April 2022, she hosted a boozy women-only lunch at the exclusive café, which specialises in Italian food in the converted Thames Wharf industrial storage facility by the River Thames at Hammersmith.
Regular customers include Stella McCartney, Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow.
A photograph posted on Twitter by Ms Rowling showed the party drinking red and white wine.
Alongside it, she wrote: ‘There was a lunch and I’m not saying I’ve only just sobered up enough to type this tweet but at the same time, I’m not not saying that’, adding purple, green and white heart emojis and #respectmysex.
The restaurant was founded by two women, Ruth Rogers and the late Rose Gray, in 1987 and won a Michelin star ten years later.
Guests included Professor Kathleen Stock, who resigned from her University of Sussex job after being accused of ‘transphobia’ and Helen Joyce, who penned Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality.
Ms Rowling said: ‘There was a lunch and I’m not saying I’ve only just sobered up enough to type this tweet but at the same time, I’m not not saying that.
‘It was me getting them drunk, to be honest. I do remember being authoritatively told I’m only 66% straight.
Rowling and her husband were seen sipping on flutes of champagne – before she shared on X/ Twitter : ‘Really hope go big or go home is still a thing’
The author and doctor Neil Murray were pictured dressed to the nines as they sat in the stands on the fourth day of the prestigious racing event in Berkshire
She shared another snippet into their lives in October, when she shared a snap of their drinks
‘Watch this space for further developments.’
Even back in 2009, the author showed her love for a party as she attended a star-studded charity fundraising ball at Hampton Court Palace.
Rowling, who looked a picture of glamour in a sky blue off-the-shoulder gown, was seen enjoying a laugh with comedian Peter Kay at the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation charity gala.
The star was in high spirits for the evening, and was even said at the time to have outbid all rivals to pay £12,000 for a cheeky lapdance by David Walliams.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that, for the most part, JK chooses to keep her private life under wraps.
After a post on Twitter in 2020 that called out an article using the phrase ‘people who menstruate’ instead of women, the once generally beloved figure’s reputation has become mired with controversy.
Most famously, she has become estranged from the young Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, whom her books helped propel to fame.
These days, she lives with her second husband Doctor Neil Murray and their three children outside of Edinburgh.
Even back in 2009, the author showed her love for a party as she attended a star-studded charity fundraising ball at Hampton Court Palace (pictured, with Geordie Greig and husband Neil Murray)
Meanwhile in 2020, she put up 4ft-high new gates to increase her security.
Rowling married her husband, Dr Neil Murray, in the library of her second, Perthshire home, which boasts two halls, a dining room, a drawing room, a morning room, and seven bedrooms.
There is also a two-bedroom extension on the west wing, a swimming pool covered with copper domes, a state-of-the-art electronic security system and 24/7 security guards.
However, from time-to-time, she does give rare glimpses into their shared life together.
At the end of last year, she shared a heartfelt post to mark their 23rd wedding anniversary.
It consisted of a photograph of the author, smiling in the embrace of her husband, underneath the brief caption ‘Married 23 years today’ alongside a single heart emoji.
The photograph, shared with her 14.3 million followers on X on Boxing Day, was a happy, sunlit snapshot.
Murray was 29, working as a senior house officer in anaesthetics at St John’s Hospital, Livingston, West Lothian, when he met the already phenomenally successful Rowling in 2000. Her first book, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, had been published three years earlier, propelling her to stardom.
Rowling has become distanced from Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (pictured together, 2009)
A former head boy at his school in the Scottish town of Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Neil had chosen not to follow his father and grandfather by becoming a vet, but rather won a place at Glasgow University to study medicine, graduating in 1994.
After sitting next to each other at a charity event in Edinburgh, the relationship went public in December 2000.
The couple would go on to have two children, David in 2003, and Mackenzie in 2005, younger siblings to Rowling’s daughter Jessica – with all three largely remaining out of the spotlight.
Following her romantic gesture marking their 23rd anniversary, she was characteristically light-hearted about him.
‘He married up,’ wrote one in the comments.
‘Trust me, as everyone who’s met him knows, I’m the lucky one,’ Rowling shot back.
‘Do you think you’ll keep him?’ asked another. ‘I’ve lost the receipt, so I’ll have to,’ she parried.
In October, she gave another hint at their lifestyle as a blend of privacy and fun, sharing a snap of two drinks.
‘Old Fashioned for me, Negroni for Neil,’ the author wrote.
Rowling was criticised in 2018 after she liked a tweet describing trans women as ‘men in dresses’ – with her spokesperson at the time describing the ‘like’ as a ‘mistake’, calling it a ‘clumsy middle-aged moment’.
Rowling was criticised in 2018 after she liked a tweet describing trans women as ‘men in dresses’. Rowling pictured in 2022
But the author has since embarked on a campaign seeking to protect what she describes as women’s rights, fuelled by her own experiences of domestic abuse.
That campaign has seen her oppose legislation in Scotland that sought to make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender, and she has provided financial support to those fighting court cases challenging the legal status of trans people.
In a lengthy 3,600-word statement on her website published in 2020, she said her stance on trans rights was drawn from her experiences of abuse and sexual assault.
She wrote: ‘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. That is the simple truth.’
Daniel Radcliffe, meanwhile, initially fell out with the Scottish writer after he penned an article declaring ‘transgender women are women’ shortly after Rowling criticised using the phrase ‘people who menstruate’ rather than women.
Radcliffe and his young co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who played the starring trio, have all taken a strong stance against the author instead confirming their continued support to the trans community.
He later revealed that he and Rowling no longer speak, while the author has insisted she would never forgive the younger stars of the film franchise for speaking out against her views on trans rights.
In 2024, Radcliffe has revealed the pair no longer speak which he said makes him ‘really sad’.
Rowling has said she is unlikely to forgive Radcliffe and Watson for taking the stance that they have on trans people
Watson has repeatedly spoken out in favour of trans rights both before (top) and after (bottom) Rowling’s comments in June 2020
Meanwhile Watson said in a Tweet following Rowling’s initial comments: ‘Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.’
The 35-year-old, who played school chum Hermione Granger, previously shared an image of herself in a t-shirt reading: ‘Trans rights are human rights.’
At the 2022 Baftas she also appeared to make a subtle dig towards Rowling. Host Rebel Wilson had called her onto the stage, adding ‘she calls her self a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.’
Watson then replied ‘I’m here for all the witches’ which many viewers deemed was the actress making a jibe at Rowling.
That same year, Rupert Grint, who played Ron in the films, described Rowling as his ‘auntie’ but added in an article in The Times: ‘I don’t necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she’s still my auntie. It’s a tricky one.’
Rowling, who has become the face of feminist campaigners calling for the protection of women-only spaces, said she was unlikely to forgive those stars who first spoke out in support of trans people following her comments.
Responding to a tweet that asked whether the likes of Radcliffe and Watson would apologise to the author, ‘safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them’, she said: ‘Not safe, I’m afraid.’
‘Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces,’ the writer added.
Radcliffe has long been a supporter of the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide-prevention hotline and crisis-intervention resource (pictured in 2001)
Despite losing the support of many of the younger cast members of Harry Potter – most of whom are millennials – the older generation of actors who starred in the films have remained her allies.
Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the films, told the Telegraph in 2022: ‘There’s a bunch of stuff about Jo… I don’t want to get drawn into the trans issues, talking about them, because it’s such an extraordinary minefield.
‘One of the things that people should know about her too – not as a counter-argument – is that she has poured an enormous amount of her fortune into making the world a much better place… through her charity Lumos.
‘And that is unequivocally good. Many of us Harry Potter actors have worked for it, and seen on the ground the work that they do.’
Rowling clearly has much to look forward to as she turns 60 – with the new Harry Potter HBO reboot on the horizon, while the Broadway and London stage spin-offs continue to experience roaring success.