Editing J. K. Rowling (section)

=== Religion, wealth and remarriage ===
{{further|Religious debates over the Harry Potter series{{!}}Religious debates over the ''Harry Potter'' series|List of celebrities by net worth}}
By 1998, Rowling was portrayed in the media as a "penniless divorcee hitting the jackpot".{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=187–188}} According to her biographer Sean Smith, the publicity became effective marketing for ''Harry Potter'',{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=187–188}} but her journey from living on benefits to wealth brought, along with fame, concerns from different groups about the books' [[#Religious reactions|portrayals of the occult]] and [[#Gender and social division|gender roles]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=218–222}} Ultimately, Smith says that these concerns served to "enhance [her] public profile rather than damage it".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=222}}

Rowling identifies as a Christian.<ref name=Fantasia>{{Cite web|last=Nelson|first=Michael|date=31 January 2002|title=Fantasia: The Gospel According to C.S. Lewis|url=https://prospect.org/api/content/3229353b-1de2-5f2d-89cf-1440fe7c9594/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=[[The American Prospect]]}}</ref> Although she grew up next door to her church,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=25–27, 76}} accounts of the family's church attendance differ.{{efn|Smith writes that the Rowling sisters "never attended Sunday school or services",{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=76}} and Parker writes that the other Rowling family members were not regular churchgoers, but that "Rowling regularly attended services in the church next door".<ref name=Parker2012>{{cite magazine |title=Mugglemarch: J.K. Rowling writes a realist novel for adults |last=Parker |first= Ian |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=24 September 2012 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/01/mugglemarch |access-date=13 June 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730193324/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/01/mugglemarch |archive-date=30 July 2014 }}</ref> }} She began attending a [[Church of Scotland]] congregation, where Jessica was christened, around the time she was writing ''Harry Potter''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weeks|first=Linton|date=20 October 1999|title=Charmed, I'm sure; the enchanting success story of Harry Potter's creator, J.K. Rowling|page=C01|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|id={{ProQuest|408532236}}}}</ref> In a 2012 interview, she said she belonged to the [[Scottish Episcopal Church]].<ref>{{Cite episode |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mx27g |title=J. K. Rowling |credits=Presenter: Mark Lawson |series=Front Row |series-link=Front Row (radio programme) |station=[[BBC Radio 4]] |time=17:45 |date=27 September 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001021842/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mx27g |archive-date=1 October 2012}}</ref> Rowling has stated that she believes in God,{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=105}} but has experienced doubt,<ref>{{cite news|title=The woman behind the boy wizard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/television/16rowling.html|access-date=13 June 2020|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Mike|last=Hale|date=16 July 2009|url-status=live|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715043903/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/television/16rowling.html|archive-date=15 July 2011}}</ref> and that her struggles with faith play a part in her books.{{sfn|Cruz|2008}} She does not believe in magic or [[witchcraft]].<ref name=Fantasia/>{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=105}}

Rowling married Neil Murray, a doctor, in 2001.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=271–273}} The couple intended to marry that July in the [[Galapagos]], but when this leaked to the press, they delayed their wedding and changed their holiday destination to [[Mauritius]].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=113}} After the UK [[Press Complaints Commission]] ruled that a magazine had breached Jessica's privacy when the eight-year-old was included in a photograph of the family taken during that trip,{{sfn|Holmes|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5MNzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 203]}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.pcc.org.uk/cases/adjudicated.html?article=MjA0NQ== |publisher= Press Complaints Commission|access-date=1 February 2022|title=Adjudicated complaints: J K Rowling}}</ref> Murray and Rowling sought a more private and quiet place to live and work.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=261–262, 266–267}} Rowling bought [[Killiechassie House]] and its estate in [[Perthshire]], Scotland,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/hogwarts-hideaway-potter-author-2467790|title=Hogwarts hideaway for Potter author|work=[[The Scotsman]]|date=22 November 2001|access-date=25 October 2007|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613172843/https://www.scotsman.com/news/hogwarts-hideaway-potter-author-2467790|archive-date=13 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> and on 26 December 2001, the couple had a small, private wedding there, officiated by an Episcopalian priest who travelled from Edinburgh.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=271–273}} Their son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born in 2003,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2883095.stm|title=Baby joy for JK Rowling|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=24 March 2003|access-date=24 March 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201195555/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2883095.stm|archive-date=1 February 2009}}</ref> and their daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=JK Rowling |title= News: JKR gives birth to baby girl | url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=83 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112121859/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=83 |archive-date=12 January 2012 |access-date= 19 January 2022 |date= 25 January 2005}}</ref>

In 2004, ''[[Forbes]]'' named Rowling "the first billion-dollar author".<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Watson|first1=Julie|last2=Kellner|first2=Tomas|date=26 February 2004|title=J.K. Rowling and the billion-dollar empire|url=https://www.forbes.com/maserati/billionaires2004/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html|access-date=9 January 2022|work=[[Forbes]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729194610/https://www.forbes.com/maserati/billionaires2004/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html|archive-date=29 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Rowling denied that she was a billionaire in a 2005 interview.<ref name=Couric2005>{{cite news |last=Couric |first= Katie |author-link=Katie Couric |date=18 July 2005 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/8599597 |title= J.K. Rowling, the author with the magic touch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128233720/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8599597 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |publisher= [[NBC News]] |access-date= 13 June 2020}}</ref> By 2012, ''Forbes'' concluded she was no longer a billionaire due to her charitable donations and high UK taxes.<ref name="160M">{{cite news|title=J.K. Rowling: billionaire to millionaire|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10791515|access-date=16 January 2013|date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607200823/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10791515|archive-date=7 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> She was named the world's highest paid author by ''Forbes'' in 2008,<ref name=BBCWealth2008>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7649962.stm |title=Rowling 'makes £5 every second' |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=3 October 2008 |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> 2017<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-40825498|title=JK Rowling named world's highest-earning author by Forbes|date=4 August 2017|publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=5 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002155507/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-40825498|archive-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> and 2019.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cuccinello|first1=Hayley C.|last2=Shapiro|first2=Ariel|title=Worlds highest-paid authors 2019: J.K. Rowling back on top with $92 million|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2019/12/20/worlds-highest-paid-authors-2019-rowling-patterson-obama/|work=[[Forbes]]|date=20 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2020}}</ref> Her UK sales total in excess of £238&nbsp;million, which made her the best-selling living author in Britain,<ref>{{cite news|title=J.K. Rowling: Casual Vacancy tops fiction charts|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9584404/JK-Rowling-Casual-Vacancy-tops-fiction-charts.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=4 October 2012|first=Emma-Victoria|last=Farr|date=3 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004003423/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9584404/JK-Rowling-Casual-Vacancy-tops-fiction-charts.html|archive-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> until 2025 when she was supplanted by [[Julia Donaldson]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=McTaggart |first=India |date=2025-01-17 |title=JK Rowling knocked off top of British best-sellers list |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/17/jk-rowling-knocked-off-top-british-author-spot/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> The 2021 [[Sunday Times Rich List|''Sunday Times'' Rich List]] estimated Rowling's fortune at £820&nbsp;million, ranking her as the 196th-richest person in the UK.<ref name=wealth>{{cite news|date=21 May 2021|title=JK Rowling net worth – Sunday Times Rich List 2021|url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/profile/article/jk-rowling-net-worth-sunday-times-rich-list-695xd7kzn|url-status=live|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211113164421/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sunday-times-rich-list-jk-rowling-net-worth-rhrbq7ctc|archive-date=13 November 2021|access-date=1 January 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> As of 2020, she also owns a £4.5&nbsp;million [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] house in [[Kensington]] and a £2&nbsp;million home in Edinburgh,<ref name=2020NetWorth>{{cite news |title=JK Rowling net worth 2020: How much the Harry Potter author earns and donates to charity |last=Hills |first=Megan C. |date=7 May 2020|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/celebrity/j-k-rowling-net-worth-harry-potter-author-billionaire-a4234706.html|work=[[Evening Standard]]|access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref> where she lives with Murray and her two youngest children.<ref name=AboutJKR/>