Parting with Harry Potter was worse than divorce for JK Rowling

London, Jan 30 : Author JK Rowling admits that saying goodbye to her character Harry Potter was more painful than divorce.

The Brit author was honoured for outstanding achievement at the South Bank Show Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in central London recently and she told the gathering there just how painful saying goodbye had been.

"It has been the worst break-up of my life - far worse than splitting up with any man," The Telegraph quoted her, as saying.

Rowling received the award from Lord Richard Attenborough, the acclaimed director and actor, who joked that he would have loved a role in the movie adaptations of her best-selling series.

"I must be the only English actor of my generation who has got absolutely bugger all out of this extraordinary series that has been read by millions and made into movies," he said.

"Surely there must have been something I could have played? Even just a few lines here and there? Don't think I didn't try!"

The Harry Potter series saw Rowling's fortunes take a turn for the better overnight since the first one was published in 1997.

The 2007 Sunday Times Rich List estimated her fortune at 545 million pounds, ranking her as the 136th richest person and the 13th richest woman in Britain.

Forbes has named her the second-richest female entertainer in the world the 48th most powerful celebrity of 2007.

Time magazine named Rowling as a runner up for their 2007 Person of the Year noting the social, moral, and political themes in her books and her inspired fandom.

ANI