J.K. Rowling denies Edinburgh locations like Victoria Street and Greyfriars Kirkyard inspired Harry Potter books

The Harry Potter writer hit back at claims that Edinburgh streets inspired locations in her best-selling books.

Many fans believed Victoria Street was the inspiration for Diagon Alley for years, however, J.K. Rowling disputed the rumour on Twitter.

She wrote: “No real street inspired Diagon Alley, I’m afraid. It came out of my head!”

The author said she’d never seen 99% of the places that claim to be the inspiration, including Victoria Street, when she first wrote about the shopping street in her fictitious wizarding world.

The Old Town street is featured in many Harry Potter walking tours, as is Greyfriars Kirkyard. The gravestones in the Edinburgh cemetery were thought to be the inspiration for many characters in the Harry Potter books, however, Ms Rowling has denied this.

"One of my children went on one of those Potter walking tours with their best mate for a laugh. They came home with a ton of information that was news to me”, she said.

She added: “I feel bad for the tourist boards saying it, but all locations in Potter are entirely imaginary bar one.” Ms Rowling went on to tell fans that 4 Privet Drive - the house where Harry Potter lived with his aunt, uncle and cousins in the book – had the same layout as a house she lived in as a child.

J.K. Rowling has denied claims that a Harry Potter location was inspired by the iconic Victoria Street in Edinburgh.

In 2020, the author dispelled more rumours about the inspiration behind her books. She revealed she didn’t visit the Elephant House cafe, which has called itself ‘The Birthplace of Harry Potter’, until after she had been writing the books for a few years.