Queen Camilla has been a longstanding champion of reading and a supporter of literacy-related charities, often meeting with authors and visiting schools to read to children. But on Tuesday, June 30, the Royal Family received a barrage of negative comments after sharing a photo of The Queen with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
Rowling has made repeated anti-trans comments over the years, and with their meeting taking place on the last day of pride month, The Queen’s meeting with the author was criticized by many social media users.
“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 Instagram post read.
According to Buckingham Palace, “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.”
Rowling has become a divisive figure for her social media posts about the transgender community, and the Royal Family’s comment sections on both Instagram and X were filled with fans expressing their disappointment over Queen Camilla’s meeting.
“As an admirer of the Queen and her Reading Room I’m deeply disappointed in her giving a platform to JKR, any month but especially during Pride Month,” one Instagram user wrote. “There are many other admirable individuals to spotlight who champion reading for children and young people.”
The King and Queen were joined by Prince Edward and Princess Anne for a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 30.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Another comment read, “there’s a lot of other children’s authors (who have published kids books more recently than 20 years ago) that you could have worked with on this,” adding several emojis of the transgender pride flag.
The Queen’s meeting with Rowling took place in Edinburgh, where the author wrote the majority of her Harry Potter books, and kicked off Royal Week in Scotland for King Charles and Queen Camilla.
