Finishing with Potter worse than divorce, says Rowling

Finishing with Harry Potter was more painful than divorce, the author of the boy wizard blockbuster tales J.K. Rowling said Tuesday.

The billionaire author, who wrote her seventh and last Potter tome last year was tearful as she accepted an award for outstanding achievement in London.

"It has been the worst break-up of my life -- far worse than splitting up with any man," the 42-year-old was quoted by AFP as talling an audience at the Dorchester Hotel for the South Bank Show awards.

"But it has also been wonderful to stop and draw breath and think, 'My God, look what's happened with an idea I had 17 years ago on a train'."

The Harry Potter books have sold around 350 million copies worldwide and are translated into 65 different languages. The last, "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows", came out last July.