Queen Camilla faces backlash for posing with J.K. Rowling during Pride Month

Queen Camilla faced criticism on social media after the royal family posted a photo of her in Scotland posing with J.K. Rowling, the British author who has long come under scrutiny for promoting anti-transgender views.

The wife of King Charles III recently posed next to the "Harry Potter" author at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh for a June 30 X post. The post said the two share a "passion for books and a deep commitment to children reading for pleasure."

The queen wore a baby-blue collared dress, while the famed philanthropist donned a white blazer over a navy-blue dress shirt and matching pants. "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," the post read.

Commenters condemned the queen's decision to meet with Rowling, with a user on X writing, "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."

"This is in such bad taste," an X user wrote. Another user slammed the royal family for posting this picture on the final day of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

USA TODAY has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.

JK Rowling has shared anti-trans views since 2019

"Rowling is a TERF, not a good look for anyone to be seen with her," wrote an X user.

Since 2019, critics have labeled Rowling a "terf," an acronym for a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The writer has previously expressed anti-trans rhetoric on social media that conflates sex with gender and suggested that someone changing their biological sex threatens her own gender identity.

She also faced backlash in April 2025 for a photo of her smoking a cigarette while celebrating the U.K. Supreme Court's ruling, which stripped trans women of legal protections under Britain's Equality Act, regardless of gender recognition certificates.

Among several posts on April 16, 2025, Rowling celebrated "terfs" and said her husband Neil Murray referred to the ruling as "TERF VE Day," a play on V-E Day, the formal end of World War II and Nazi occupation in Europe.

GLAAD, a global LGBTQ+ advocacy and non-profit organization, has previously identified the writer as one of the most prominent anti-trans voices in the entertainment industry due to her financial involvement in the U.K. Supreme Court case and her history of online anti-trans remarks.

On a 2023 episode of her podcast, "The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling," she explained her decision to speak out on her beliefs, adding, "I absolutely knew that if I spoke out, many people who would love my books would be deeply unhappy with me."

"Time will tell whether I've got this wrong," she added. "I can only say that I've thought about it deeply and hard and long and I've listened, I promise, to the other side." 

Contributing: Edward Segarra and Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY