Trans activists and allies have flooded the Royal Family’s latest post after Queen Camilla met with JK Rowling.
Commenters ridiculed the monarch for ending Pride Month by posing for a photo with a woman who has been a vocal detractor of trans rights.
Most recently, Rowling criticised Sir Keir Starmer for appointing trans supporter Baroness Harriet Harman as an adviser on women and girls.
Camilla and Rowling met at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to discuss ‘the importance of ensuring that young people have access to books and the vital part reading plays in opening doors for future generations.’
The Royal Family’s post mentioned the pair’s ‘shared passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure.’
The commenters shared their ‘deep disappointment’ in the Queen for working with Rowling, whose views on trans women in single-sex spaces have become her primary output on social media.
India Willoughby, who has often clashed with the Potter author, wrote on X: ‘The Royal Family standing proudly with probably the biggest trans hate preacher in the world. Shows how out of touch the monarchy is. Tick-tock.’
Activist Aiden Neal added: ‘The Royal Family should not be posing for photographs with one of the worst trans-baiters in the world today and then posting them on the very platform where she promotes her hate.’
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Majid added: ‘This is in such bad taste. Anyway. Protect the dolls 🏳️⚧️.’
Dale Tegman criticised: ‘There are SO many authors in the UK. Why would you select the one who wants to deny young people access to live-saving health care? Why would you select the one who has made it her life mission to erase a vulnerable minority from public existence?’
Over on Instagram, Thomas Larcombe questioned if the Queen meant ‘all young people’ or ‘only some’, adding the trans pride flag.
‘During Pride Month. Really? PR team really didn’t have your back on this one,’ added Chelsea Ann.
Richard Patterson penned: ‘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.
‘There are many other admirable individuals to spotlight who champion reading for children and young people.’
That alone amassed over 13,400 likes, and with over 7,900 other comments on the post, the Royal Family has now limited comments.
Of course, there were some who called the pair ‘inspirational’ and defended Rowling’s rights to ‘disagree with certain lifestyles’.
Stephen Richmond said: ‘J.K. Rowling is just as entitled to her opinion as anyone else. Anyone acting as though she is worthless simply because she disagrees with your lifestyle should take a long, hard look in the mirror.
‘I’m sure every one of us has beliefs or actions that others could heavily criticize. She has never said that she hates anyone, she has said that she disagrees with certain ideas and lifestyles. There is a clear double standard when people with large platforms say things you agree with and are celebrated for it, but someone who expresses a different opinion is condemned and attacked. That kind of inconsistency comes across as biased.’
Rowling has been at the centre of Britain’s gender row since first engaging in the trans rights discourse in December 2019, voicing support for a UK tax specialist who lost her job after making gender-critical statements.
She has since become synonymous with the trans-exclusionary women’s movement, even daring Scottish police to arrest her as the Hate Crime Act came into force in April 2024.
The author also donated £70,000 to For Women Scotland’s legal fees, the campaign group pushing for the Scottish law to exclude transwomen from the legal definition of ‘woman’.
She previously declared that ‘there are no trans kids’ and that no child is ‘born in the wrong body’ as well as misgendering people, such as Imane Khelif.
In one post, she claimed transgender affirming support ‘will end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies’ on kids struggling with their identity.
Queen Camilla’s endorsement of Rowling came on the same day that Prince William joined volunteers from The Mix and Shout in The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a prominent queer venue in London.
He was there to discuss mental health and support for the LGBTQ+ community, highlighting the impact of coming out and homophobia.
In the video, the trans community was not explicitly mentioned, even when discussing suicide rates among LGBTQIA+ people, which are consistently higher than among the heterosexual, cisgender population.
Trans and non-binary people face some of the highest rates of suicidal ideation globally, with the Samaritans reporting that they are more at risk than the rest of the community.
A study by Suicide Prevention UK reported that 48% of trans people have attempted to take their own lives, while a whopping 84% have thought about it.
ONS also reports that hate crimes against the trans community have surged by 50% over the past five years.
This has begun to decline, with an 11% decrease in 2025 compared to the previous year, however, overall, anti-trans sentiment is up since 2020.