J K Rowling amasses more riches than Queen, with £280m fortune

J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, has amassed a fortune greater than the Queen, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed yesterday.

A decade after she devised the children's fantasy book, Rowling has jumped 25 places to become Britain's 122nd richest person with £280m, overtaking the Queen, in 133rd place with a fortune of £250m.

The rise distinguishes Rowling asBritain's wealthiest self-made woman, the richest person in British showbusiness and the world's wealthiest female author.

Rowling entered the list in 2001 with a wealth of £65m. By the following year, this had grown to £226m. The latest Rich List attributes her fortune to sales of 190 million copies of Harry Potter books as well as a lucrative share of film and merchandising deals. The first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, earned £650m at the box office worldwide and the second, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, has made £301m so far.

The Duke of Westminster topped the Rich List for the third successive year with £4.9bn, an increase of £200m on his 2002 valuation. In addition to his London property interests, which include 300 "golden acres" in Mayfair and Belgravia, the duke's wealth can be attributed to the 145,000 acres he owns in Scotland, Lancashire and Cheshire.

The duke rises 11 places to 35 in the list of the world's richest people, which is still led by Robson Walton, head of the American Wal-Mart empire.

Hans Rausing remained second on the British Rich List. His fortune, derived from the Tetra Laval milk carton, has increased by £300m to £4.8bn. Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief, and his wife, Slavica, jumped two places into third this year.

Philip Green, who turned around the fortunes of the high street chain BhS, is a new entry in the top 10, with the fastest-growing fortune. He climbed seven places to sixth with wealth estimated at £1.85bn.

For the first time in a decade, the combined wealth of the top 1,000 on the Rich List has fallen by 2 per cent, or £3.8bn, to £155.86bn.

Although women are still outnumbered by men, the 2003 Rich List shows that they are gradually increasing in number. The list contains 79 women, compared with 1,014 men, up from 74 in 2002 and 69 in 2001.