Best of luck to her. She has conducted herself with charm and dignity throughout the whole saga. The only noticeable change has been an improvement in the luxuriance and colour of her hair.

The real point, however, is how unusual Rowling is among creative workers in controlling the publication of her works and how they are translated into other media. She is, as she herself has said, "extraordinary lucky".

So were the producers David Heyman and Tanya Seghatchian who took up the film option on her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - for around £2,000 per annum, so it is said. It must be one of the most profitable media investments ever made.

Negotiations took time, but Seghatchian's early enthusiasm and a promise of fidelity to the book won Rowling's loyalty. Now she will command very different terms.