Why this photo of Camilla with JK Rowling has divided the nation: CLARE FOGES and ROSIE BEVERIDGE reveal the stark generational split

Clare Foges writes, 45

What fills the summer air? Steam must be rising from the fingers of the vigilant crowd as they furiously attack social media on their smartphones, exposing the latest person to have offended them.

Yes, those who constantly demand tolerance still have difficulty showing tolerance.

Their current target: none other than HM Queen Camilla, who has been called ‘deplorable’, ‘tone deaf’ and other words that should not be printed. His terrible crime was appearing in a photograph with Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

This is a picture that anyone over the age of 35 won’t even bat an eyelid at; Our Queen stands next to Rowling in the blue sitting room of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh as they meet to discuss ‘young children’s access to books’. One imagines the scones recalling the grandeur of Earl Grey, politely AA Milne…

This meeting between the UK’s living bestselling author and the Queen is a wonderful thing for any sane person: anything we can do to get young people off their phones and into books, right?

But for Gen Z or Alpha, for whom even an Enid Blyton book would need extensive trigger warnings, it was a disgrace.

It’s hard to overstate the anger many young people feel at Rowling for her views on how women’s rights collide with the desires of trans activists.

He said the bleeding had been obvious to the majority of the British public for years. No, we cannot allow biologically intact men into women’s locker rooms, women’s shelters, and women’s gyms. No, we should not be forced to deny biological reality. No, we should not bow to those who dress up our objections as prejudice and discrimination.

Many people in positions of power found it very difficult to talk openly about the issue, chattering about ‘menstruating people’ and women having penises. But Rowling bravely stated the truth. After all, fantasy is for books, not human biology.

But a very noisy minority cannot bear to raise its voice; including those whose fame and fortune were achieved solely through Rowling’s genius.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe described her views as ‘very sad’, while Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger, has repeatedly criticized Rowling.

“I’m here for all the witches,” Watson declared on stage at the 2022 British Academy Film Awards; this was widely interpreted not only as a show of solidarity with the trans community, but also as a blow to JK.

The hatred towards Rowling is so vitriolic that appearing in a photograph with her, even if only to enhance the reading pleasure, is perceived by many as a political act and is, of course, recommended against any member of the Royal Family.

Rowling’s battle began in 2019, when she tweeted support for tax expert Maya Forstater, who was fired from the think tank where she worked for tweets deemed “transphobic” about proposed gender recognition laws. This triggered an avalanche of non-stop hatred.

Since then, she has been subjected to torture, rape and death threats, and writes that she feels “constant concern for herself.” [her] Family security’. Still, he continued to fight the good fight against those who wanted to refute biological truth.

Rowling responded “No” to a social media post titled ‘Repeat after us: Trans women are women’ and said she would “spend two years happily”. [behind bars] if the alternative is forced conversation and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex’.

It is important to be tolerant and kind to trans women in unisex prisons, shelters, locker rooms, etc. He has repeatedly argued that he cannot slide into a future filled with love.

From where? Because ‘when you open the door of bathrooms and locker rooms to any man who believes or feels that he is a woman… you open the door to any man who wants to come in.’

The violence of Rowling’s fight is based on her own story. As a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault, her interest in this issue is ‘deeply personal’. She knows what it means to feel terror and endure scars at the hands of a man.

‘Queen Camilla’s choice to host Rowling was a bold and intelligent choice,’ says Clare. ‘When it comes to women’s safety issues, the Queen, like Rowling, speaks from experience’

It is extremely admirable that she chose to use her name to prevent another woman or girl from going through the same pain. For weaker souls the path of least resistance – and enjoying that £975 million fortune in peace – would be more appealing.

It’s true that Rowling sometimes enjoys provoking the trans mob. Last year, after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of woman was based on biological sex, she posed on a yacht with a cocktail in one hand and a cigar in the other, captioning which she wrote the A-team slogan: ‘I love it when a plan comes together.’

It’s posts like these that have made her the queen of TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists), who are public enemy No. 1 for trans activists. But Rowling isn’t the one turning this into an unpleasant battle. He’s not the one sparking the death threats and other disgusting forms of harassment.

Rowling has always made it clear that she does not mean any harm. In one of her articles, she wrote: ‘I want trans women to be safe. ‘At the same time, I don’t want to make giving birth less safe for girls and women.’

All things considered, Queen Camilla’s decision to host Rowling was a bold and intelligent one.

He was well aware that this would create a huge outrage on the Internet; To continue means, in my eyes, not only respect for JK as a writer, but also solidarity with him as a campaigner. This may be because the Queen – like Rowling – speaks from experience when it comes to women’s safety.

Last year, she spoke for the first time about the sexual assault she suffered on a train as a teenager: ‘I was reading my book and, you know, this boy attacked me and I fought back…’ The Queen said the anger and rage around the attack had been ‘hidden for years’.

In this picture there are two women who know how high the risk is; those who have experienced the horror of male assault on women and who have done their best, loudly and silently, respectively, to ensure that other women do not suffer a similar fate.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and this image quite refreshingly screams that the Queen will stand up for what she believes in and will stand by those she supports, no matter how much criticism she receives.

Compare and contrast this attitude with our knee-jerk, evasive politicians. For example, can you imagine Andy Burnham posing with JK Rowling? I think we know the answer.

So while haters on the internet will always hate, all I see here are two amazing women who refuse to bow to the mob.

Now, Your Majesty, if you could talk a little about JK’s Damehood at the Palace…

A PR mistake of epic proportions

Rosie Beveridge writes, 26

I sent my first (and last) famous fan letter when I was nine years old. Six months later (almost a millennium for someone under ten) a response arrived in the mail.

It was a thick, heavy envelope containing a letter written on expensive-looking paper. On the back was a matte black sticker that looked like an ink stain, revealing a hidden message when heated by the heat of your hand.

This was real-life magic and the moment I truly fell in love with JK Rowling.

And of course I was far from the only one. Through Harry Potter, he built a fantasy world where weird kids (and adults) felt like they could escape the pressures of home or school, where the misfits of the world could feel at home.

So when Rowling liked a tweet in March 2018 that referred to trans women as ‘men in dresses’, it shocked and unquestionably betrayed an entire generation of fans who are now in their 20s.

My generation assumes that anyone who transitions from male to female is a woman, that a trans woman is a woman, this is not up for debate. Gender is considered a purely social construct. To say otherwise is considered aggression.

This began an eight-year reputational spiral in which Rowling pioneered a derogatory attitude towards trans people, for better or for worse.

Although Harry Potter has made Rowling a beloved figure among many (pictured with the cast), the author began her reputation spiral after liking a tweet that called trans women ‘men in dresses’.

Rosie Beveridge says of Rowling: “It saddens me that someone who can write seven books of poetry about love is so lacking in compassion.”

Although she remains a national treasure in the eyes of our grandparents and, in many cases, parents (my predominantly Left-leaning age group), the consistent and aggressive articulation of her views has made Rowling public enemy No. 1.

Personally, I feel a little sorry for him. He seems very angry and hateful towards a group of people who don’t want to hurt anyone.

It saddens me that someone who can write a seven-book ode to love – the only thing that can stop a killing curse in the magical Potter world – can be so devoid of compassion.

While Rowling seems to genuinely believe she’s supporting women, it surprises me that she doesn’t consider how her campaign is attacking the existence of an already persecuted minority. A group of people struggling to find and fight for who they are, and rarely make the decision to transition easily.

But my feelings towards Rowling are nothing compared to how others in Generation Z (ages 14 to 29) view her.

A friend told me: ‘He’s a vitriolic billionaire who wrote some accurate books and has since massively misused concepts like women’s safety to promote his own agenda.

‘I have trans friends and she’s exploiting the perception that trans people are creepy opportunists, mentally ill, or that there’s something wrong with them and that’s simply not true.

‘Worst of all, he seems to enjoy the odd pain, which is a real look, right?’

They were referring to the photo Rowling posted on X on April 17, 2025 – the day after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of woman is based on biological sex – of herself smoking a cigar and drinking a glass of whiskey on her £113 million superyacht in the Bahamas, with the caption: “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Considering the £70,000 he donated to the campaign and the fact that he has spoken openly over the years, the post was self-indulgent at best. When I opened the newspaper yesterday morning my eyebrows shot up when I saw who was standing shoulder to shoulder with JK Rowling… none other than Queen Camilla.

Considering the photo was shared on the monarchy’s official social media on June 30, the last day of Pride Month, it looked like a PR scam of epic proportions.

Of course, advisors are aware of the controversy surrounding JK Rowling. Why don’t you stay in office until July 1? What is 24 hours in the name of subtlety?

The royal family is supposed to be above politics, why would the Queen become involved with someone so controversial at a time meant to celebrate love?

Bearing in mind that support for the monarchy among younger generations is at an all-time low (33 per cent of 18-34 year olds, compared to 74 per cent in 2013), this ‘getting over the anger’ stunt is seriously ill-advised.